Altamont, Duchesne and Rich – Region 16 schools – didn't win the 1-A state volleyball tournament, but they placed with Altamont, fourth; Duchesne, sixth and Rich—defending champion, third. Manila won two consolation games. However, they didn't finish among the top eight in the tournament.

The Lady Longhorns opened tournament play by whipping Intermountain Christian School, 25-22, 25-9, 25-18 and then reached the Final Four of the meet by beating Bryce Valley, 25-19, 25-14, 24-26, 25-20.

“We got out to a good lead vs. ICS and beat them in three games. We used three games to beat Bryce Valley. Teamwork was the key to those two wins,” said Altamont head coach Deana Lindsay. She was assisted by her daughter McKenzie Lindsay, a former all-around athlete at Altamont High School.

Altamont played tough volleyball in the next two matches, but suffered losses to Piute, 25-14, 25-20, 25-12 and to Rich, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16 in the battle for third place.

Starters for Altamont at the tournament were: Sydni Samuel, Nicole Fisher, Sydney Justice, Kellie Jessup, Whitney Fieldsted, Morgan Fieldsted and libero Jacoy Oman, who would be substituted for Justice or M. Fieldsted during a match. Larissa Miles was a valuable reserve, who played a great deal on the back row.

Whitney Fieldsted made the all-tournament team. The meet was played at Utah Valley University in Provo.

“Whitney and Sydni (Samuels) did a good job of setting the ball. Our key to winning vs. ICS and Bryce Valley was good passing,” Coach Lindsay stated.

W. Fieldsted was an outside hitter for the Altamont Longhorn squad.

“I try to keep the ball alive with outside hits. We played hard and did our best,” Fieldsted remarked. “We won the first game vs. Rich as we were all pumped up.”

Altamont posted an 11-2 regular record with the team's only losses – two matches vs. Rich. The Rebels also gave the Lady Longhorns their final loss of the season.

“We went four games with Rich. They went back and forth and was anyone's game with Rich coming out on top.” commented Coach Lindsay. “We had super blocking and excellent passes that helped us win the first game vs. Rich. However, Rich took control of the match when we missed a lot of serves in the second game. The girls played really well against Rich.”

The Altamont High School team had six seniors in M. Fieldsted, Samuels, Fisher, Justice, Miles and Jessup on its squad. Oman and W. Fieldsted are juniors.

“Our team should be strong again next year even though we are losing six seniors. Our only regular season losses were to Rich,” she stated.

Duchesne lost a first round match to Monticello (25-12, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17), but then won three-in-a-row over St. Joseph (22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-18), ICS (25-13, 25-9, 25-18) and Wayne (25-12, 25-18, 25-21). The Eagles downed the Wayne Badgers for the consolation title (sixth place).

“Our whole region did well at the tournament. Duchesne beat Rich at Randolph in the regular season,” said Coach Lindsay. “Rich had a new coach this year and got off to a rough start. However, they turned it on at the end.”

Panguitch ended up whipping Piute for the 1-A crown and Layton Christian – a team Altamont defeated in the regular season – won the 2-A title. North Sanpete beat volleyball powerhouse Morgan for the 3-A championship in a wild title match, 25-16, 27-29, 25-22, 17-25, and in a 15-13 shootout.

During the regular season, Altamont pocketed 11 wins and only 2 losses. They whipped Layton Christian, 20-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 17-15. W. Fieldsted had 13 kills and 10 blocks. Samuels had 28 assists.

AHS also toppled Waterford, Salem Hills, Roy, North Summit, Duchesne, Tabiona, Rangely and Manila. The Longhorns beat North Summit, a 2-A school, 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11. Fieldsted had 18 kills and Justice added six kills plus five blocks. In a 25-20, 26-24, 25-22 AHS win over Duchesne Morgan and Whitney Fieldsted combined for 18 kills and 10 blocks.

Altamont defeated Tabiona, 25-14, 25-8, 25-13 and whipped Rangely, 25-21, 25-14, 25-23. Samuels led AHS with 31 assists vs. Rangely and W. Fieldsted had 23 kills. Altamont knocked off Duchesne, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23. W. Fieldsted had 20 kills and M. Fieldsted 12 kills plus eight blocks. Samuels dished out 35 assists and three blocks. AHS beat Manila, 25-16, 25-14, 25-10.