Game Details - Boys Volleyball

Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Pine View was an emotional one for No. 3 Desert Hills. Playing against a team with club teammates is often an inevitability in state tournaments but doing so while stifling a comeback made extra emotional for the Thunder. “They're from our region and they're a great team,” said Desert Hills coach Josh James. “We've had a lot of close games with them. I coach club for a lot of boys on that team and this team. So, there's a lot of emotion behind it that way.” Originally, it was going Desert Hills’ way. It survived the first set 27-25 but then took the second more convincingly 25-16. Then, Pine View rallied. The Panthers took the third 25-21 and then earned a 22-16 lead in the fourth. “In that third set we came in, I think we just came in a little too confident,” James said. “IOt made us start a little slower. So, then we got behind and then we had to play catch-up. We almost had him in that third, but I think the catch-up kind of wore us out.” Desert Hills knew all too well that it wanted to avoid a fifth set at all possible, and that it did. The Thunder went on a 9-3 run to close out the quarterfinal and earn a spot against Crimson Cliffs in the semis. “My boys kept saying over and over, ‘We're tired,’” James aid. “I just kept saying, ‘I know you're tired. I just need a little more.’ “I think to them, in their heads, it was easier to just give it all in this one. Because I think going to a fifth, I think they would have struggled. They were tired, but they did awesome.” Brodie Hoag yet again led the Thunder with 19 kills. Graham Wintle and Jordan Jenson backed Hoag up with nine kills each.