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A new opportunity opened for male athletes with the start of a club volleyball team consisting of high school boys from North Sanpete. They are currently in the middle of a great season with 9 wins and 3 losses.
“North Sanpete boys volleyball team is new and very exciting,” junior Bubba Ison said. “We have wins over several 4A, 5A and 6A teams including Lone Peak, Skyridge and Salem Hills. As a new team we are doing very well. We know how to battle and play with big schools and the energy we play with is very fun to watch. We are getting better every week and that shows now that we are one of the top teams in the Utah Valley.”
The team competes in the Utah Valley boys’ volleyball league. There are five different skill level groups and in the first year NS has reached the top level.
The team travels every Tuesday to Orem high school to play two games. The top four teams will be able to compete at state.
Playing such large schools can be intimidating, but NS won two matches Tuesday, April 10. The first victory that day was against Salem Hills, where NS lost their first set (23-25) and won their second and third sets (25-21, 15-12). Sky View was the boys second opponent that day with NS winning both sets (25-12, 25-18).
Their most recent win was against Mountain View Tuesday, April 17, losing the first set (22-25), but coming back the second and third sets (25-18, 15-8).
That same night, the team took a loss to Lone Peak (18-25, 22-25).
The opportunity for the boy to play is largely due to coach Austin Ison, who wishes he had the opportunity to play boys’ volleyball when he was in high school. To help give NS students the opportunity that he missed out on, he started the club team.
The team has eight boys on the team, each contributing something different.
Alex Mower is the starting middle on the team with 28 kills, 14 blocks and 13 aces.
“I played volleyball in flex, and it is pretty fun,” Mower said, “so I decided to try out for the team.”
While Mower and the team’s experience may seem limited, the players are able to work well together.
“Our team does very well when it comes to big hits by Conner Jorgensen and Payton Clawson, and great defensive plays by Morgan Cook,” Bubba Ison said.
Bubba Ison is the starting setter for the team with 147 assists and 21 aces so far.
“We only have a couple weeks left and we are doing really well for putting a team together and going up there to play against teams that have been playing for awhile,” said right side hitter and sophomore Callan Beck. “We need to work on not getting ourselves down when we make mistake, we need to just play and have fun.”
