The battle for the 3A boys volleyball state championship is set, and it promises to be a showdown for the ages. Top-seeded Ogden and defending champion Morgan both punched their tickets to Saturday's title match with dominant performances on Day 1 of the tournament.
Ogden came out firing on all cylinders, sweeping Juab 3-0 in the semifinals to cap off a flawless opening day. The Tigers' attack was simply too much for their opponents, with outside hitter Keen Crowther leading the charge with 24 kills and a .362 hitting efficiency. But Crowther wasn't alone—James Taukiuvea and Kos Crowther each added nine kills as the team hit an impressive .337 as a whole.
"Everything just came together," said Ogden head coach Tim Wright. "The work that they've been putting in really was showing up, and all of the little things that we've been talking to them really came through and paid off."
For Ogden, this championship appearance is a long time coming. After falling just short the past two years, the Tigers are hungry to prove they deserve the No. 1 seed. "We're going to show everybody why we got the No. 1 seed and that Ogden is a force to be reckoned with," Wright added.
On the other side of the bracket, Morgan proved why they're the team to beat in 3A boys volleyball. The Trojans took down North Sanpete 3-1 in the semifinals, setting up a rematch of last year's final. Morgan's middle blocker David Thomsen was a wall at the net, recording 10 blocks in the quarterfinals and eight more in the semis. Outside hitter Kevin Wangsgard also delivered, racking up 24 kills against North Sanpete after 16 in the previous round.
"It's harder than people think it is," said Morgan coach Kyle Komenda. "Just because to stay motivated, to make sure we're locked in and doing the things we need to do and attention to detail, it's not easy."
The stage is set for an epic championship clash between the top two seeds. Ogden and Morgan split their regular-season meetings, with the Trojans taking the most recent matchup. "We're feeling really good," Komenda said. "Last time we played, we won. We thought we figured some things out, but they're tough. I think we identified them early on."
Saturday's final promises to be a battle of power versus precision—and a must-watch for any volleyball fan looking to see the best of Utah high school sports.