Game Details - Girls Volleyball

There was a looseness with the way No. 2 seed Desert Hills played in Monday’s 4A state tournament, and it’s a big reason the Thunder are moving onto the semifinals. Annie Gilmore smacked 17 kills and Presley Decker added six aces to power the Thunder past No. 7 seed Ridgeline for the 25-14, 25-17, 25-13 victory in the 4A quarterfinals at UVU on Monday night. “These guys just play so good when they are relaxed and kind of laughing and playing on the court and just enjoying each other,” said Desert Hills coach Craig Allred. “I feel like sometimes when they do that, they lose track of the bigness of the moment and just have fun. And it really is a great way for them to be able to play at the state tournament because I think that's sometimes hard because you get in this environment and it's tense.” Desert Hills got any jitters it had out in the first-round win over Park City, and it made quick work of Ridgeline in the semifinals with Jayla Ybright coming up clutch with 32 assists. “The second (match), I felt like we kind of got going a little bit playing more of what we're capable and where we want to be going in. Obviously once you get to state tournament everybody is really, really good. I thought we did a good job of pushing towards the end and finishing strong,” said Allred. Desert Hills fell behind early in the third set, but regrouped quickly to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal at 11:45 a.m.