Sports

Bittersweet loses

Girls volleyball

Olivia Richardson and Wesley Cottongim • September 4, 2025

As the Stansbury and Grantsville athletes go to meet hands at the net the anticipation builds, with each “Good luck!” and high five given the tension builds for both teams. Both were eager to take home the “W”. Junior libero Avery Merrill goes back to the line to serve the first rally of the game, the teams relax and the rivalry game begins. Senior Co Captain, Kaylin Elton said, “I wanted to win really badly! I knew it was going to be a hard game so I was ready to play my absolute hardest.”

The Cowboys started off strong winning the first set 25-22, the star hitters of the game, Kaylin Elton and Alybree Rogers killing the ball with might, mind, and power. Elton had a total of 6 kills, zero errors, and 8 attempts. Alybree had 5 kills, 1 error, and 9 attempts. As a whole the team had 16 kills, 43 attempts and 5 errors.

The girls were hungry for the next 2 sets, but unfortunately fell short in the second set losing 17-25. Senior Captain, Olivia Richardson stated that, “ I was confident after winning the first set and truly felt that we could take home the win, we were playing great and unified. Then during the second set I think we all just fell apart mentally, which caused us to slow down physically and it showed in the score and outcome of the set.”

The 3rd and 4th set went better for our cowboys, losing in the 3rd 22-25 but coming back in the 4th with an ending score of 25-18! It was all on the line in the 5th set, both teams with two wins under their belts. The 5th set was neck and neck the whole game, but Stansbury ultimately took the win by a game winning kill to the corner. Leaving the final score at 12-15/ ⅔. Assistant coach Marcy Egbert said after the loss, “I still think we can beat any team in 3A this year. We played very well against Stansbury but we just need to put the ball away a little more.”

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Alybree Rogers played an outstanding game with a total of 22 kills with 5 errors, following Kaylin Elton with 13 kills and 1 error. The team had 12 total aces with Elton on the leader board following Haizlee Hall and SaDee Castagno. Avery Merrill had a total of 18 digs and Olivia Richardson with 33 assists. The coaches also played a large role, Avery Merrill explained that, “They were cheering us on the whole time, and helping us get the confidence to go out and lay it all out on the court.”

Although the match ended in a loss, there are many positives to look at. “We played one heck of a game, and I’m proud of my team for the points we did put up on the board. Each individual player did amazing things, that game may have ended in a stats loss but we won as a team.” said Richardson.

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About the Contributor

Olivia Richardson

Doing anything by herself was hard. Going up the stairs was almost impossible. Going down was a little easier. She sat on the top step. She set her crutches by her side and started the slow descent. Sliding down step by step. After only a few steps she stopped. Olivia Richardson couldn’t take it anymore. The initial knee injury was hard, but the fact that she had had to get surgery and now couldn’t walk on it was even harder. So was the fact that no matter what no one understood what it was like. To not be able to do the things she loved. To not be able to even just practice with her volleyball team no matter how hard that practice was. Volleyball was a part of her. Liv had broken multiple parts of her knee. Tripping over a hurdle at a track meet had started this painful process, and was continued as her knee cap popped out of place at every volleyball practice. She had been through surgery, and grueling physical therapy that pushed her to her limits each and every time. She worked hard. She pushed through the pain, and at times it was constant. She was doing it for her team. She was doing it for her body. But most of all she was doing it for herself! She was the one who was going to come out on top. Then she could prove to them what she could do. Liv stood on the volleyball court. Varsity player. An asset to the team. She had come so far. Looking around she was filled with gratitude for the simple things she had taken for granted before. “Volleyball has given me opportunities to meet new people and travel” Liv said. She cherishes all the memories she makes with her team and she knows they will be there for her and in return she wants to be there for them when they go through hard times. Now she understands what it’s like to feel alone. What it was like for no one to understand how you feel. Also what it’s like to come out on top. To get through the hard times. Olivia Richardson had won!