Desert Hills’ Madison Clark is volleyball MVP as all-region teams selected

Desert Hills vs. Hurricane, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 21, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The varsity coaches for the Region 9 volleyball teams selected the MVP for Region 9 as well as the all-region teams. This year the volleyball Region 9 MVP goes to Madison Clark from Desert Hills High School.

Desert Hills’ Madison Clark (10), Desert Hills vs. Hurricane, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 21, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

As a senior outside hitter, Clark led the Thunder to a 20-11 record, the Region 9 title and a third-place finish in the UHSAA 4A playoffs. Clark led the Thunder with 200 kills, good enough for 11th in 4A and third in the region. She led the region in kill percentage at 41.9, which was second in 4A for players with more than 100 kills. Clark was fourth in the region with 214 digs and also had 43 service aces.

“Madi was a great player who did many wonderful things for Desert Hills volleyball this season,” Desert Hills head coach Sharon Christensen said. “She has the ability to elevate her teammates on the court. She is a tremendous athlete.”

Dixie’s Shawnee Jones (9), Desert Hills vs. Dixie, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 15, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Making the All-Region First Team were Allie Beck and Halle Sonju from Desert Hills High School, Shawnee Jones, Ella Burrows and Brooklyn Wright from Dixie High School, Sammi Johnston from Snow Canyon and Addisyn Mikkelson from Pine View. With the exception of Johnston and Sonju, all of the players on the first team were seniors. Johnston and Sonju are juniors.

Beck joined Clark in a dominating 1-2 punch on the Thunder attack as an outside hitter. She recorded 158 kills (fourth in region), 39 service aces, 44 blocks and 202 digs (fifth in region). Sonju played the libero position for the Thunder. She had 279 digs (third in region) and 52 service aces.

Jones, Burrows and Wright led Dixie to a 21-8 record, a second-place finish in Region 9 and to the UHSAA playoffs, where they were eliminated by 4A runner up Sky View. Jones played at the outside hitter and middle blocker positions. She had season totals of 129 kills, 155 digs and 40 service aces. She had a passing ratio of 2.2. Burrows played middle blocker for the Lady Flyers. She led the region with 104 blocks and posted 150 kills and 34 service aces. Wright manned the setter position. She was fifth in 4A and led the region with 654 assists. She also had 43 blocks, 125 digs and was second in the region with 61 service aces.

Snow Canyon’s Sammi Johnston (11), Dixie vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 19, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Johnston played outside hitter and led Snow Canyon to a 17-16 record, finishing third in Region 9 and fourth in the UHSAA playoffs. Johnston was fifth in the state, second in 4A and led the region in kills (412). She was 19th in the state, sixth in 4A and led the region in service aces (65). She was 14th in the state, third in 4A and led the region in digs (376). In the latter category she led the state for those players not designated as libero/defensive specialist or those playing on teams without a libero/defensive specialist designation.

Mikkelson played middle blocker and led Pine View to a 20-13 record, a fourth-place finish in Region 9 and to the UHSAA playoff where the Lady Panthers were eliminated in the first round by state champion Park City. Final season statistics were not provided for Mikkelson.

Selected for the second team were Andie Sonju and Kylee Christensen from Desert Hills, Celeste Fiame and Saraven Allen from Pine View, Brynn Eardley and Halle Anderson from Dixie and Hallie Remund from Snow Canyon.

The third team consisted of Lorien Colbert and Malia Vasi from Canyon View, Addie Tauanuu and Jael Wilde from Snow Canyon, Kamryn Bliss from Desert Hills, McKena Carter from Hurricane and Dream Weaver from Cedar.

The representatives from each school in the region broke down to six players from Desert Hills, five from Dixie, four from Snow Canyon, three from Pine View, two from Canyon View and one each from Hurricane and Cedar. There were 12 seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.

Region 9 Honorees
First Team
Shawnee Jones, Dixie Senior Outside Hitter/Middle Blocker
Allie Beck, Desert Hills Senior Outside Hitter
Brooklyn Wright, Dixie Senior Setter
Ella Burrows, Dixie Senior Middle Blocker
Sammi Johnston, Snow Canyon Junior Outside Hitter
Addisyn Mikkelson, Pine View Senior Middle Blocker
Halle Sonju, Desert Hills Junior Libero

Second Team
Andie Sonju, Desert Hills Sophomore Setter
Kylee Christensen, Desert Hills Junior Middle Blocker
Celeste Fiame, Pine View Senior Setter
Saraven Allen, Pine View Senior Setter/Outside Hitter
Hallie Remund, Snow Canyon Sophomore Middle Blocker
Brynn Eardley, Dixie Senior Middle Blocker
Halle Anderson, Dixie Sophomore Libero

Third Team
McKena Carter, Hurricane Junior Middle Blocker
Lorien Colbert, Canyon View Senior Setter
Malia Vasi, Canyon View Junior Setter
Dream Weaver, Cedar Senior Outside Hitter
Kamryn Bliss, Desert Hills Sophomore Middle Blocker
Addie Tauanuu, Snow Canyon Senior Setter
Jael Wilde, Snow Canyon Freshman Libero

* Statistics were either provided by the team or taken from Maxpreps.com.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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