ETV News stock photo by Jeff Barrett
The Lady Dinos made a statement over the weekend at the Dixie Flyers Tournament in St. George. Their talent and potential were on full display during their six games in two days.
Carbon opened up the tournament with a three game sweep over Beaver (25-23, 25-17, 25-11). Emma Christensen led the team with 21 digs and 17 kills. Katie Jones also recorded 21 digs while Makenna Blanc tallied 32 assists in the contest.
Up next was an extremely close match with Grantsville. The Dinos took the first set 26-24 and the second 25-13. Grantsville then fought off Carbon with two consecutive set wins by the score 25-23. The Lady Dinos took the decisive fifth set 15-12 to pass the pesky Cowboys. Carbon recorded 123 digs in the contest. Christensen again had a team-high 29 digs and 13 kills. Blanc added 26 digs and 25 assists. Jones, Lyndee Mower and Reagan Smuin finished with 23, 17 and 15 digs, respectively.
The final game on Friday was against Pine View. Defense again was a big part of Carbon’s game as the Dinos recorded 85 digs through three sets compared to the Panthers’ 47. Carbon recorded its second sweep of the day, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18. Christensen had a game-high 12 kills while Jones led all players with 24 digs.
The Lady Dinos were firing on all cylinders on Saturday. Carbon swept Water Canyon 25-17, 25-20 and 25-18 in the first match. Sydney Orth led the Dinos with six blocks while Janzie Jensen followed with five. Christensen again recorded a team-high 17 digs and 11 kills. Blanc added 24 assists.
Carbon then jumped on Cedar early with a 25-14 first set win. The Lady Dinos continued by taking the second set 25-22. The third set was close, but Carbon edged out the Lady Reds 27-26 for their second three-game sweep of the day. Five Dinos reached double-digit digs, including Christensen (18), Jones (15), Mower (11) , Blanc (10) and Smuin (10). Jensen had a team-high six blocks while Christensen again led Carbon with 10 kills.
The tournament finale provided a rematch between Juab and Carbon. The Lady Dinos took the first two set 25-20 and 25-19. It was back and forth in the third set, but Carbon came through with the 27-26 win. Again the Dinos dominated with their digs. Jones (24), Mower (21), Christensen (21), Blanc (13) and Smuin (12) all contributed in Carbon’s 104 team digs. Blanc recorded 26 assists while Christensen had a team-high 16 kills.
Carbon not only went a perfect 6-0 in the tournament but it only lost two total sets. The Lady Dinos (8-1) will look to keep their momentum going at Richfield (6-5) on Tuesday and against Emery (5-2) in Price on Thursday.