Storylines<br>• Top-ranked Lone Peak gets 18 kills from Tasia Farmer and 13 more from Madi Robinson in a sweep of American Fork.<br>• The Knights also receive six kills and four blocks from middle Kennedi Boyd and five kills from senior setter Jaquelyn Langhaim.<br>• American Fork is paced by Elena Hansen’s nine kills while fellow outside hitter Abbigail Vincent adds seven.
Highland • Lone Peak and American Fork entered Tuesday’s match with similar resumes, but the Knights made quick work of the Cavemen, winning in a 25-20, 25-12, 25-19 sweep.
“They’re a great team. The good news is that we’ll get a chance to see them again,” American Fork coach Shantell Durrant said. “I’m not super-happy about the way we played, we played okay, but I don’t think we had any energy or necessarily ready to play.”
Lone Peak (7-0) were challenged by the Cavemen in the first and third games, but pulled away late in both in the region match.
In the first set, with the score tied at 17, the Knights got a pair of aces from Emma Ricks to kick off five straight points and open a gap and eventually take a 1-0 lead. Lone Peak led the third set 21-19 before three straight kills by Tasia Farmer gave the hosts match point, which was converted on the next play on a missed kill attempt by American Fork (5-1).
Farmer, a junior for the Knights, had 18 kills to lead all players. Her teammate Madelyn Robinson also put away 13 kills for Lone Peak.
Robinson’s last outing in Utah, before Lone Peak went to Las Vegas to participate in the Durango Fall Classic over the weekend, was a subpar individual performance against Bountiful in a team win.
“Madi divulged that she was really sick. She was taking a bunch of medicine and couldn’t see straight,” said Lone Peak coach Reed Carlson of his senior outside hitter, who is a BYU recruit.
In Vegas, Lone Peak’s tournament performance included a pool play win over ’Iolani, a Honolulu team ranked in MaxPrep’s national top five, and a victory over highly-regarded Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas.
Along with Robinson and Farmer on the outside, the talent-laden Knights spread the ball around against American Fork. Junior Kennedi Boyd, an Arizona State commit, had six kills and four blocks in the middle while Army recruit Autumn Spafford contributed four kills and a block.
Setter Jaquelyn Langhaim, who has commited to play at Tennessee-Chattanooga, swatted down five kills and also recorded a couple of blocks.
American Fork, which was led by Elena Hansen’s nine kills, also brought its own Division I player to the scrum as senior setter Tayler Tausinga, like Robinson, is going to play at BYU.
“She’s the kind of kid that, without her, we wouldn’t be able to do the things that we’ve done,” said Durrant of her setter. “She’s a leader on the court and off the court. I’m super-glad to have her on my team, because I sure wouldn’t want to play against her.”