Published: Friday, Oct. 29, 2010 11:56 p.m. MDT By Amy Donaldson, Deseret News
| OREM — The North Sanpete Hawks looked poised to play Cinderella again this Halloween until the Hurricane Tigers managed to steal the slipper in a come-from-behind victory that seemed as improbable as the ability to turn mice into horses.
Down 13-5 in the fifth and final set of the quarterfinal match, Hurricane's Angela Shields served nine straight points to take the Tigers from the brink of an upset to a couple of points from a semifinal berth.
"This team is so streaky," said Hurricane head coach Daniel McKeehan after the Tigers held on to win 25-22, 13-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14. "We had three freshmen, two sophomores and a senior out there — and we played like it."
The task of serving all those points fell to Shields, the lone senior on the court, who had struggled hitting from the outside all game.
"She did a really nice job," McKeehan said smiling.
At one point, McKeehan called a time out and walked onto the court, knelt down with the players circled around him.
"I just told them 'You've got to play one point at a time'," he said.
And that's exactly what they did. Freshman Brooklyn Gubler served the match point and the team relied on sophomore Naomi Beatty to run the offense after starting setter Quilter sat out with a back injury.
"I'm always nervous," Beatty said. "I have the hardest time playing varsity. ... But today was different. The team was so unified, so focused, I just didn't let it get to me."
Beatty said ignoring the scoreboard is difficult, especially with a rowdy crowd cheering at each point or mistake.
But the young team did a nice job of defending against the Hawks hits while running a diverse offense of its own. Freshman Shania Hurst led the team with 19 kills (and only three errors), while Shields added 18 kills. Siai Kiel picked up 21 digs to lead the defense.
McKeehan showed no emotion until match point, when he crossed his arms in an X, which is how referees signal the end of the match.
Cool heads were exactly what the Tigers needed to defeat the defending 3A champions from North Sanpete, who were the story of last year's tournament when the unheralded Hawks upset top-ranked Morgan for the title.
"Their setter did a really good job," said McKeehan. "They passed the ball well."
The Hawks made the Tigers earn every point as the two teams played scrappy defense and smart, powerful offense.
"For this team to be in the final four, we're ecstatic," said McKeehan of the third-ranked Tigers.
The Tigers' reward for the victory is a chance at the top-ranked team in the state — Morgan.
"I've heard all my life that Morgan is No. 1," said Beatty. "I'm excited to play, instead of just watch them."
The Trojans had a battle of their own on the same court. Morgan defeated fifth-ranked Delta 21-25, 25-17, 25-21. Morgan and Hurricane will play at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
In the other quarterfinal games, Deseret Hills defeated Wasatch. The Thunder won 21-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-16, to become the only unranked team in the semifinals.
The Thunder will take on fifth-ranked Juan Diego at 12:30 p.m.
The Soaring Eagle upset second-ranked Richfield.
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