The two teams split the first two sets. Then, in the third set Grand was seemingly ahead 21-20 when Emery earned another point on a side-out.
“All of a sudden, I look up and score is 23-20 for Emery,” recalled GCHS head coach Deb Hren. “We had had problems with scorekeeping in the sub-varsity matches and the officials asked us to have a scorekeeper sit next to them.”
“Unfortunately, since the error wasn’t caught earlier, we had to go with the home book,” Hren added. “We lost that game 25-22.”
Grand also lost the fourth and deciding set by the same score, despite a furious comeback by the Lady Devils, who had rallied from a 19-14 deficit to get within one point three different times late in the game.
“Overall, the Lady Devils were just off the whole night,” Hren said, adding that Grand’s freshman and junior varsity teams also lost to Emery’s squads.
In addition, senior Nikita Nelson had sprained her ankle the night before and was hampered by that injury, Hren said. She noted that Nikita Nelson and fellow senior Mikenzee Nelson recorded two service aces each, while teammates Gaby Meyer and Sydney Lema each recorded seven kills, and Carly Dalton had 18 digs.
This week, the Lady Devils will play two matches at home. They’ll face the South Sevier Lady Rams on Friday, Sept. 21. The varsity game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Grand will also play Richfield at Moab the following afternoon, Sept. 22, at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Devil team will be selling old apparel and duffel bags at each of those games, Hren said.
The Lady Devils’ homecoming game is scheduled for next week, on Tuesday, Sept. 25, against Emery. Varsity play is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.
Early next month, the Lady Devil players will don pink jerseys to show their support in the fight against breast cancer. That game is scheduled for Oct. 9 in Moab against Monticello.