Skyler Fields’ 25 kills propelled Salt Lake over Austin in five despite a short 21-hour turnaround from Friday night’s 3-0 loss to Atlanta.
“I challenged the girls to just take some ownership and make sure we recover,” said Salt Lake head coach Tama Miyashiro. “I think you can clearly see it in their behavior and how they approached today.”
Fields, Roni Jones-Perry, and Dani Drews all posted double figures in kills on the night. Mary Lake improved upon her team-leading 12 digs on Friday with a team-leading 15 on Saturday. The team improved their play across the board. Miyashiro went deeper into her rotation on Saturday playing both opposite hitters, three of the four middles, and a couple of serving substitutes.
Expanding the lineup did the trick. The 6-foot-2 Fields used all of her 40-inch verticle to block 8 shots and rack up nine more kills than anyone else on the court.
Austin hit the gas midway through the first set expanding the scoring gap to six. Salt Lake battled to within three before Leah Hardeman sealed it for Austin.
Sets 2 and 3 were mirror images of the first set. Salt Lake opened up a five-point lead in set 2 and powered through the finish. It looked like a game of Uno in set 3 with Austin playing the classic reverse-skip-Uno-game sequence.
The pressure was on Salt Lake to win the fourth set. An 0-2 weekend makes for a quiet trip home. Austin had a chance to put Salt Lake away up 24-23 but Haleigh Washington was not having it. In her first game of the year, the US Olympic gold medalist was clutch to give Salt Lake new life.
A miscue by Hardeman allowed Salt Lake to take the lead 26-25 with Jordyn Poulter serving out with two aces already under her belt. Dani Drews’ ninth dig to Poulter’s set for Jones-Perry was perfect. Austin’s Chiaka Ogbogu block on the attack missed its mark giving Salt Lake the win and pushing a fifth and final set.
In the race to 15, it was Salt Lake racing to a 4-1 lead. Austin drew close trailing only by a point when Salt Lake hit a 6-2 spurt to take a 13-8 lead. Local prep star Logan Eggleston scored the last three points for Austin down the stretch but it was not enough.
Match Photos
All photos by Jason McDonald, JM Photos for CORE360 Sports