The final RPI rankings of the season and the bracket for the 3A State Championship Tournament came out this morning with the Emery Spartans landing at No. 1. The Lady Spartans fought their way throughout the year only dropping nine sets the entire regular season. Morgan ended in the No. 2 spot followed by the Carbon Dinos, the Union Cougars and the South Summit Wildcats to round out the top five. The top 11 teams get a first round bye and will not take to the court until next Wednesday at Utah Valley University while the remaining teams will get to work this Saturday at home sites.
Below is a season recap for all 21 teams in the 3A State Championship Tournament:
#1 Emery Spartans- 24-1 (7-1) Region 12 Champions
Emery volleyball was one of the top teams in 3A all season. Coming off of a 2020 campaign where they finished with a 12-14 record entering the tournament as the No. 8 seed and lost to Richfield in the consolation round this year just feels different. Opening the season on a 17 game winning streak, the Spartans made their way through 25 games this season dropping just eight sets. Led by a crew of six seniors they will look to make a deep run in the tournament. They will begin play on Oct. 27 and will face the winner of the Canyon View/Providence Hall match-up.
#2 Morgan Trojans- 21-6 (10-0) Region 13 Champions
The Morgan Trojans were last years runner-up losing to Union in the final. Morgan ran through Region 13 taking a victory in every conference game. Four of their losses came from schools in a higher classification and they also dropped one match to Thunder Ridge, a school out of Idaho. They will face the winner of the Grand County/Summit Academy match-up on Oct. 27. Morgan will go up against the winner of the Grand County/Summit Academy match.
#3 Carbon- 20-6 (5-3) Second place in Region 12
Carbon made it through the first eight games this season before dropping their first match to defending State Champion Union. Then they dusted themselves off and even claimed the top spot in the RPI. Carbon has a few players that are ranked in the top 10 in the state as well. Senior Lyndee Mower sits in the No. 8 spot in service aces with 62 and the No. 2 spot with 452 digs. Janzie Jensen, another senior, holds the No 4 spot in the state with 95 blocks and senior Sydney Orth No.7 with 89. Carbon awaits the winner of Richfield and Grantsville.
#4 Union- 15-10 (7-1) Region 14 Champions
Union ended the year at 15-10, 7-1 in region play. The defending 3A Champions are limping into the end of the season losing four of their last seven. They will still be a team to keep an eye on headed into the tournament with many player from last seasons team returning.The Cougars will await the winner of the Juan Diego/Ben Lomond.
#5 South Summit- 18-9 (7-3) Second place in Region 13
South Summit ended their season on Tuesday night with a straight set win over Ogden. Taking victories in five of their last seven matches they will head into the post season with a first round bye. South Summit enters into the tournament a complete team with all players contributing to their record this season. They will face the winner of the Judge Memorial/American Leadership Academy. This will be the first meeting between them and either team this season.
#6 North Sanpete- 16-10 (5-3) Second place in Region 14
This season North Sanpete had wins early in the season against programs like Provo and Highland and then Snow Canyon towards the end of the year, The Hawks have faced competition from across all classes. They finished up the regular season with a straight set win over Manti on Tuesday night and will face Manti once again in the second round on Oct. 27.
#7 Layton Christian Academy- 10-7 (5-5) Fourth place in Region 13
Layton Christian Academy started out the season winner of their fist four, and were even No.1 in the first RPI rankings. at the beginning of October they had a road trip going to Idaho and returned 3-2 against out of state competition. Keep an eye on junior Mariana Said who leads the team in many statistical categories. They will play Delta in the first match-up for both teams in the tournament.
#8 Ogden- 15-12 (5-5) Third place in Region 13
Ogden seemed to be getting it together at the end of the season winning seven of their last ten. Look for names like Rees Bockwoldt, Soledad VanOrden and Olivia Blackford to make some noise in the tournament. The Tigers will face an opponent that they met-up with once already this year in Juab. On Sept. 7 in Nephi, Juab claimed a 3-1 win.
#9 Juab- 9-11 (2-6) Fourth place in Region 14
The Juab Wasps will enter post-season play losing their last three contests. Coming out of Region 13, a region that was dominated by Union, Juab will look to seniors like Kaysee Flanders and junior Avia Stowell to push them into tournament play. They square off with Ogden on Oct.27.
#10 Delta- 11-15 (4-4) Third place in Region 14
The Delta Rabbits are limping into the post-season winning just three of their last night outings. They will look to Keelie Bunker and Oakley Riding two of just five seniors on the team. Senior Emmie Willoughby sits in the No. 2 spot with 96 blocks on the year. Delta ended the season with a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Delta Rabbits. They will go up against Layton Christian Academy.
#11 Manti- 11-14 (2-6) Fifth place in Region 14
Manti found themselves in a slump losing five matches in a row from Aug. 28 to Sept. 21. Recently they have lost their last heading into the playoff. Senior Cali Alder is No. 5 in the state in assists with 734. Coming off a season ending loss to North Sanpete, the second season begins next Wednesday when they will again face North Sanpete, a team they lost to in both matched this season.
#12 Judge Memorial- 12-12 (7-1) Second Place in Region 15
Judge Memorial is not headed into the post-season the way they would like dropping five of their last seven contests. With wins out of classification against Jordan and Logan and losses against 1A Escalante and 2A Enterprise it’s safe to say they had an up and down kind of season. Judge will face American Leadership Academy in the first round on Saturday, a team that they got the better of in both matches this season.
#13 Juan Diego Catholic- 11-14 (7-1) Region 15 Champions
Juan Diego ended August and started September losing seven of eight. Luckily for the Soaring Eagle four of them were during a non-region tournament and the other three were also non-region during the regular season, which allowed them to claim first place in Region 15. In their first round match-up they will take on Ben Lomond, a team that they did not face all season but, if you go back to last year they defeated them in both meetings.
#14 Richfield- 10-17 (4-4) Third place in Region 12
The Richfield Wildcats ended the 2020 season with a 22-9 record ending the season in fifth place in 3A. This year was a little different for them finishing below .500 for the first time since 2014. Led by Juniors Nicole Willardson with 308 kills, Sierra Timbreza with 240 digs and senior Sydney Knutson with 446 assists. The Wildcats with only two seniors on their team will surely be one of the youngest teams at the tournament. Richfield will take on Grantsville on Saturday. The Wildcats won the only meeting with Grantsville at a tournament on Oct 8 in straight sets.
#15 Grand County- 9-16 (3-6) Fourth place in Region 12
Grand had it’s struggles this season. They will enter into the post-season dropping four of their last seven. The roster this season consists of seven seniors who will move on next year. Grand has only been able to string together eight wins this season. The Red Devils were able to gather some wins against teams from 2A to 4A. The Red Devils will face the Summit Academy Bears on Saturday in the first round.
#16 Canyon View- 11-15 (2-6) Fifth place in Region 12
This was the first year in 3A for the Canyon View Falcons. Last year they competed at the 4A level going 6-19 and losing in the first round to Green Canyon. The roster this year was loaded with nine seniors and they will be looking at next season as a year to make a leap. Canyon View will meet up with the Providence Hall Patriots in the first meeting of the two teams Saturday.
#17 Providence Hall- 10-15 (4-4) Third place in Region 15
Providence Hall has won their last two contests but in August and September had to struggle through an 11 game losing streak. Senior Alexia Shumway is a standout for the Patriots lead they team in different categories, she’ll be one to watch for Providence Hall as they start tournament play against Canyon View on Saturday.
#18 Summit Academy- 6-10 (2-6) Fourth Place in Region 15
The 2021 season was definitely an up and down one for the Summit Academy Bears, putting together a three game winning streak to follow it with a four game losing streak. Collecting wins this season against Judge Memorial, Pinnacle, St Joseph and Escalante but dropping games to Jordan, Intermountain Christian and Provo the bear beat who they were supposed to according to the RPI and lost to teams that were above them in the RPI. They will face the Grand County Red Devils on Saturday in round one.
#19 Grantsville- 8-19 (3-7) Fifth place in Region 13
The Granstville Cowboys play in Region 13 against teams like Morgan (No. 2) and South Summit (No.5) and their region record shows it. At one point in the season they los14 out of 15 games. Winning their last two games of the regular season against Ben Lomond and Layton Christian, the Cowboys are a fairly young squad with just two seniors, this year was a learning year for the underclassmen who will move the team forward next season. as the N0. 19 seed they will face Richfield in the first round on Saturday.
#20 Ben Lomond- 0-14 (0-10) Sixth place in Region 13
The Ben Lomond Scots lost every game on their schedule this season, so it was a definitely a season to forget. Ben Lomond is based in Ogden and has struggled recently. In fact you would need to go back to 2015 to find a season when they won a contest. They will match-up with No. 13 Juan Diego Catholic on Saturday.
#21 American Leadership Academy 2-17 (0-8) Fifth place in Region 15
The American Leadership Academy Eagles struggled at times this season in fact they ending the regular season on a 12 game losing skid. The two wins they collected this season were against Merit Preparatory Academy out of Springville and Water Canyon from Hilldale. They face Judge Memorial on Saturday in round one. The faced the Bulldogs twice in the season losing both in straight sets.
To look at full 3A RPI click HERE
The 3A bracket can be seen HERE