Early region winning streak for Titan volleyball

 The first half of region play looked great for the Olympus volleyball team, which went undefeated in its first four regular season games. The Titans defeated Westlake 3-0 Sept. 8, Murray 3-2 Sept. 13, Herriman 3-0 Sept. 15 and Hillcrest 3-0 Sept. 22. The record left Olympus tied with Skyline, also undefeated, for first place standing in Region 7. Olympus then lost 3-0 to Fremont in a preseason match up Sept. 27, and fell to Skyline 3-0 Sept. 29, putting them at second place in region.

 “This team finally came together in region,” assistant coach Colleen Norris said. “I think we have the capability of getting the region title. We’ll just have to see.”

 The Titans spent the first half of the season juggling players to fill positions after injuries, including a broken leg, hurt knee and torn ACL of various players. Coaches have brought up JV players to fill in for varsity, and switched positions around as well. But the girls seem to have made it work, winning three of the four matches in three straight games.

 The closest win in the first part of the season was against Murray, which won the first two games of the match 25-19 and 25-8. The Titans came back to win the next two, 25-17 in each, and then wrapped up the match by winning 15-12 in the last game. It’s the first time that Olympus has beaten Murray at home in at least seven years.

 “Outside hitter Desi Bradshaw [senior] has done very well,” Norris said. “Megan Wetzel [senior] has really come on.” She also mentioned freshman setter Sammy Steed; senior setter Kelsey Lund; junior McKenna Tholen, a JV setter who was brought up to varsity as a right-side hitter; sophomore Tuiana “Sister” Filiaga at middle hitter on varsity; senior Danny Christiansen at middle and senior libero Mykel Leffler, who also played at outside hitter for a hurt player.

 “We just keep moving them around to fill the gaps,” Norris said.

 Head coach Sam Vaitai, suffering with gout, could also be counted as a team injury this year. Vaitai was also out of the country for a few weeks due to family matters.

 Olympus defeated Westlake 3-1 Oct. 6, was scheduled to face Murray again on Oct. 11 at home (after press deadline) and travel to Herriman Oct. 13. The Titans will face Hillcrest Oct. 19, will play Juan Diego in a non-region game Oct. 24, and will play their last region game against Skyline at home Oct. 25. State playoffs will be Nov. 4-5 at UVU. Varsity games begin at 6 p.m. this year.