Judge and Juan Diego share region volleyball championship

Intermountain Catholic

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The Judge Memorial Bulldogs tip the ball over the net to the Juan Diego Soaring Eagle team in the final playoff series in a best of five games. Juan Diego won the title in four games. IC photo/Christine Young

DRAPER — Juan Diego and Judge Memorial Catholic high schools met with the Region 10 volleyball title on the line in a best of five game series on Juan Diego’s court Oct. 18. The two teams were tied in the first two games with identical scores of 25 to 23. Juan Diego won the next two games 25 to 12 and 25 to 17.

Juan Diego lost one game to Judge Memorial during the region series.

Because Judge Memorial went into the final regional game undefeated, there was a coin toss to see which team would go to state as the number one seed. Judge Memorial won the coin toss, but after the principals and athletic directors from both schools discussed the bylaws, it was determined that the schools would share the region championship title but Juan Diego would be the number one seed going into the state championship games, while Judge Memorial will be the number two seed.

"The final regional playoff games were fun to watch because both teams are very talented and well disciplined," said Dan Quinn, Judge Memorial athletic director.

"The playoff games were exciting," said Juan Diego coach Todd Holzhauser. "The region was reorganized so we played different teams this year than we had before. It turned out that both Judge and Juan Diego were very successful against Union, Uintah, Wasatch and Park City."

For the last three seasons Holzhauser has been the assistant varsity coach, but took over the head position four weeks ago from Miriam Nellermoe, head of Juan Diego’s physical education department. When he took over the team was undefeated in the region.

"I’ve been telling them we’ve got a good strong fundamental volleyball basis and the difference will be the energy and dedication they bring to practice and to games," he said. "They responded beautifully. They are a great team for supporting and challenging each other and always with a really good heart."

Jessika Long, the center and a junior at Juan Diego, is one of the best setters in the state, said Holzhauser. "Her court sense is very good and she is great at running the offense," he said. "We have five seniors this year, and often when you have that many seniors there can be some contention about playing time, but this group has had none of that.

"Rachel Enloe has been our top hitter for a couple of years now and is definitely the leader in offensive fire power," he said. "She is also a great defender."

Judge Memorial junior Regan Briesacher is the outstanding player on the Bulldog team, said coach Bree Anderson. "She has really come into her own passing, serving and hitting," she said. "Senior Ginny Hicks is also a big hitter, and senior Sara Villareal is small, but is our center. She holds the team together and motivates them."

Judge Memorial is going to refocus and continue working hard going into the state tournament after the loss against Juan Diego, said Anderson. "A lot of coaches do some scouting to try to pick up on what the other teams do, but my philosophy is to have the kids take care of themselves, especially when they get into state," she said. "Even if you do scouting reports, volleyball is a very sporadic game so it’s hard to know exactly what to do. I want my team to take care of the ball and be responsible for their own actions, not worry about the other team and just know what it feels like to win."

The state championship volleyball tournament will be played at Utah Valley University in Orem Oct. 27-28.