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4A Boys Volleyball Semis: Timpanogos introduces itself to the finals | News, Sports, Jobs

1 / 17 The Timpanogos boys volleyball team reacts during a 4A state semifinal match against Desert Hills at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald 2 / 17 Cooper Pope of Timpanogos takes a swing against Desert Hills in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at […]

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The Timpanogos boys volleyball team reacts during a 4A state semifinal match against Desert Hills at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

2 / 17

Cooper Pope of Timpanogos takes a swing against Desert Hills in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Members of the Orem boys volleyball team react during a state semifinal match against Payson at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem’s Jackson Sanders takes a swing against Payson in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinals match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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The Payson boys volleyball team celebrates a point in a 4A state semifinals match against Orem at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem’s Ben Hone takes a swing against Payson in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem’s Lucky Jennings serves against Payson in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Timpanogos boys volleyball coach Jared Stark reacts during the 4A state semifinals against Desert Hills at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Cooper Pope of Timpanogos serves in the 4A boys volleyball state semifinals against Desert Hills at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Timpanogos freshman Brigham Woahn prepares for a serve from Desert Hills in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Cooper Pope of Timpanogos passes the ball against Desert Hills in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem’s Will Brown passes the ball while coach Bill Sefita looks on in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match against Payson at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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The Payson boys volleyball team reacts during a 4A state semifinal match against Orem at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Payson’s Jace Mangum (left) takes a swing against Orem in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Payson’s Waylon Francom (33) takes a swing against the block of Orem’s Jackson Sanders (12) and Luke Wolsey in the 4A boys volleyball state semifinals at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem’s Treyvon Cly serves against Payson in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem’s Aaron Nielsen takes a swing against the Payson block in a 4A boys volleyball state semifinal at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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On Wednesday the Timpanogos boys volleyball walked into the UCCU Center for the 4A state tournament. Someone said to T-Wolves senior Cooper Pope, “Who are you guys? I’ve never seen those jerseys.”

Pope replied, “You’ll see them in the finals, don’t worry.”

Pope was prophet: No. 7 seed Timpanogos upset No. 2 Murray in the quarterfinals and on Thursday upended No. 3 seed Desert Hills 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21) to earn a spot in the 4A championship match.

Last season, the T-Wolves were a No. 13 seed and advanced to the semifinals before falling to No. 1 Orem.

This year, they busted through.

“From the start of the season, I was thinking about how we could make it further than we did last year,” said Pope, who led Timpanogos with 22 kills in the semifinal win. “It was a super competitive run last year. Then this year, I knew we had a good team so I just wanted to make it all the way to the finals. That was our goal from the beginning. We knew we could make it and we pushed hard. It feels so good to get past the stage we got to last year.”

After splitting the first two sets in the semifinals, the T-Wolves surged to a 19-14 advantage in the third set. Desert Hills rallied and closed to within 24-23 on a kill from their star, Brodie Hoag. At set point, Pope finessed a shot to an open spot over the Thunder block for a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4 was tight but Timpanogos pulled ahead 17-14 after a couple of Desert Hills errors and a kill from Crew Kozlowski. The Thunder closed to 23-21 but Pope went off the block to get to match point. Setter Zaxen Downey, who had 43 assists, knew who to get the ball to, setting Pope out the back row for the winner.

“It’s because this team is fighting for their lives to get as far as they can,” T-Wolves coach Jared Stark said. “We didn’t play a good strategy with our RPI and didn’t get as many matches as we’d hoped this season, so our record doesn’t look as good as other teams. But now, late in the season, we’re catching up and we’re hoping to just keep taking off. This team loves the clutch moments. When it’s close, that’s when they get excited. They don’t get scared because they’ve put in the grind.”

Libero Chance Wallace was excellent for Timpanogos, leading the team with 23 digs.

“We love the clutch moments,” Pope said. “Whenever we’re in those tight spots, we’re always smiling, we’re always looking at each other because this is the sport we love to play.”

Meanwhile, top-seed Orem was cruising in its semifinal match against another Region 8 foe, Payson. The Tigers won the first two sets 25-12, 25-18 but the Lions found some momentum and roared to a 25-16 victory in Set 3. Payson continued its hot play and went up 8-4 in the fourth set.

“For us, we tend to focus on the deficits instead of just taking it one contact at a time,” Orem coach Bill Sefita said. “If we’re serving, just focus on our serve. So it was just chipping away in that manner.”

The Tigers tied things up at 20-20 on an overpass kill from setter Lucky Jennings and went up 21-20 after a swing from Ben Hone. At 24-21, a combo block from Aaron Nielsen and Jackson Sanders sealed the 3-1 victory for Orem.

“We just had to focus and know they (Payson) were going to fight hard too,” Sanders said. “So we had to fight back with just as much power. We had to come together more as a team and talk to each other, play our game and come back and beat them.”

Orem (25-6) and Timpanogos (15-9) met twice this season in Region 8 play, with the Tigers winning 3-1 at home and 3-0 on the road.

Orem was the No. 1 seed in last year’s tournament but lost a five-set thriller to Pine View, falling 17-15 in the fifth set.

“One thing we learned from our sports psychologist is to turn our nervousness into excitement,” Sefita said. “When you’re excited about something, you run toward it. That’s what we’re trying to preach to the players. We’re excited to be here and in the state championship.”

As for Timpanogos, Stark said his team also is looking forward to the challenge, despite facing the No. 1 seed.

“It’s the same sport we’ve been playing all day and all season,” he said. “What it comes down, what I tell the boys, is just play volleyball. What under our control is the stuff on our side of the net. So who’s on the other side doesn’t matter. We beat No. 2 and No. 3. Now it’s No. 1. It’s no different than two or three. We’ll just focus on the things we can control and not dwell on the things we can’t.”

Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of Utah, LLC | www.heraldextra.com | 1200 Towne Centre Blvd. STE 1058, Provo, UT 84601



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Unpacking the major reseating coming to Nebraska Volleyball

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Women’s rowing wins national championship

Stanford captured its third NCAA title in school history on Sunday morning, highlighted by victories in the second varsity eight and varsity four crews in their respective Grand Finals as racing concluded at Mercer Lake. Stanford, which also claimed NCAA championships in 2009 and 2023, put the finishing touches on an impressive season in which […]

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Stanford captured its third NCAA title in school history on Sunday morning, highlighted by victories in the second varsity eight and varsity four crews in their respective Grand Finals as racing concluded at Mercer Lake.

Stanford, which also claimed NCAA championships in 2009 and 2023, put the finishing touches on an impressive season in which it lived up to its billing as the national championship favorite. The Cardinal totaled 129 points and showcased its superior depth, outlasting runner-up Yale (121) and third-place Texas (118).

The Cardinal easily cruised to its first ACC title two weeks ago, claiming its fourth consecutive conference title overall after winning three straight Pac-12 crowns prior to transitioning leagues. In fact, Stanford became the first ACC team since 2021 to sweep all championship regatta races and broke four conference records along the way.

Meanwhile, Stanford’s spring regular season was one of its most dominant in recent history. All NCAA Championship boats finished undefeated in the 2025 regular season, including a victory at then-No. 1 Texas back on April 26 in which the Cardinal recorded winning margins of at least five seconds in each NCAA Championships scoring race.

Stanford is the nation’s all-time leader in NCAA team championships, having won 138 NCAA titles (71 men, 67 women) and 173 national championships overall (77 men, 93 women, 3 coed). Sunday’s victory was Stanford’s second NCAA team title of the 2024-25 campaign, with a victory from women’s water polo on May 11 already extending the Cardinal’s streak of one NCAA team championship during each of the last 49 years dating back to the 1976-77 campaign.

Stanford’s varsity eight clocked in at 6:08.336 thanks to a lineup of (Coxswain) Honor Warburg, (8) Luise Bachmann, (7) Célia Dupré, (6) Sarah Marriott, (5) Iris Klok, (4) Matilda Drewett, (3) Alice Baker, (2) Annika Jeffery and (1) Julietta Camahort. That runner-up finish sealed the NCAA title, with Yale (6:06.138) leading the way and Texas (6:09.848) placing third.

The Cardinal’s second varsity eight crossed the line at 6:13.075 and boasted a lineup of (Coxswain) Abbey Heinemann, (8) Nora Goodwillie, (7) Sofia Simone, (6) Martha Shepherd, (5) Carly Brown, (4) Katherine Mote, (3) Lucy Burrell, (2) Fiona Mooney and (1) Madeleine Greenstock. Rounding out the 2V8 team placings were runner-up Washington (6:14.931) and third-place Princeton (6:15.021).

Stanford opened the morning with its first varsity four title in school history, checking in with a time of 6:56.532, featuring a lineup of (Coxswain) Ella Casano, (4) Julia Doss, (3) Ellie Sutro, (2) Quincy Stone, and (1) Charlotte Jett. Trailing the Cardinal were Washington (6:58.598) in second and Texas (6:59.548) in third.

Sunday’s victories in the second varsity eight and varsity four increased Stanford’s all-time program total to seven individual NCAA champions, with the most recent being the second varsity eight in 2024.

Head coach Derek Byrnes has led the women’s rowing team to two NCAA titles (2025, 2023). He also guided the lightweight rowing program to national team crowns in 2015-16.

Results

Varsity Four Grand Final Results
1. Stanford- 6:56.532
2. Washington- 6:58.598
3. Texas- 6:59.548
4. Yale- 7:01.820
5. Rutgers- 7:01.858
6. Tennessee- 7:12.228

Second Varsity Eight Grand Final Results
1. Stanford- 6:13.075
2. Washington- 6:14.931
3. Princeton- 6:15.021
4. Texas- 6:15.021
5. Yale- 6:19.535
6. Virginia- 6:27.993

Varsity Eight Grand Final Results
1. Yale- 6:06.138
2. Stanford- 6:08.336
3. Texas- 6:09.848
4. Tennessee- 6:10.912
5. Washington- 6:12.538
6. Brown- 6:14.088

Lineups

Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Honor Warburg
8: Luise Bachmann
7: Célia Dupré
6: Sarah Marriott
5: Iris Klok
4: Matilda Drewett
3: Alice Baker
2: Annika Jeffery
1: Julietta Camahort

Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain: Abbey Heinemann
8: Nora Goodwillie
7: Sofia Simone
6: Martha Shepherd
5: Carly Brown
4: Katherine Mote
3: Lucy Burrell
2: Fiona Mooney
1: Madeleine Greenstock

Varsity Four
Coxswain: Ella Casano
4: Julia Doss
3: Ellie Sutro
2: Quincy Stone
1: Charlotte Jett



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Transgender athlete AB Hernandez shares 2 California state titles

Trump signs executive order banning trans women from sports teams President Trump signed an executive order barring transgender women and girls from playing on school sports teams. The California Interscholastic Federation crowned two champions in a pair of events at Saturday’s state high school track and field meet when transgender athlete AB Hernandez placed first […]

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The California Interscholastic Federation crowned two champions in a pair of events at Saturday’s state high school track and field meet when transgender athlete AB Hernandez placed first in the high jump and triple jump – and finished second in the long jump.

Hernandez shared the podium with her cisgender competitors following a rule change enacted last week that allowed athletes assigned female at birth to receive medals based on where they would have finished if a transgender athlete had not competed.

The awards ceremonies after the events did not produce any protests or disruptions – according to New York Times reporting from the meet in Clovis, California – as some had feared if Hernandez won a state title.

Hernandez and Brooke White of River City High School celebrated on the podium after the long jump as they “put their arms around each other, held their medals out from their chests and smiled for photos.”

Despite isolated protests outside and inside the stadium, cheers largely drowned them out, the Times reported.

Hernandez also was part of a three-way tie for first in the high jump after all three competitors cleared the same height.

The rule change was made after President Donald Trump demanded that Hernandez – a 16-year-old junior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County – not be allowed to compete in girls track and field events at the state meet. Trump threatened to withhold federal funds to the state if it did not comply with an executive order he signed Feb. 5 seeking to bar transgender student athletes from playing women’s sports.

State athletics officials drafted the new rule to allow additional female athletes to take part in events in which a transgender athlete was competing.

“The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code,” the federation said in a statement.



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Chavez named head volleyball coach at GRHS

Glen Roses Kelsi Chavez was named the new head volleyball coach at Glen Rose HS last month, replacing Sandy Langford, who accepted the head volleyball position at Nocona. Photo Credit: Jay Hinton photo Jay Hinton Glen Rose Reporter GLEN ROSE — When Kelsi Chavez was named the head volleyball coach at Glen Rose High School […]

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Glen Roses Kelsi Chavez was named the new head volleyball coach at Glen Rose HS last month, replacing Sandy Langford, who accepted the head volleyball position at Nocona. Photo Credit: Jay Hinton photo
Jay Hinton Glen Rose Reporter GLEN ROSE — When Kelsi Chavez was named the head volleyball coach at Glen Rose High School last month, she…



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Transgender runner repeats as Washington high school (WIAA) state track and field champion

Amid spectator boos and jeers, and fellow student-athletes’ protests, East Valley of Spokane transgender senior Veronica Garcia accomplished what she set out to do – win another Class 2A girls 400-meter dash at the WIAA championships in Tacoma. As the defending champion, Garcia led from near-start to finish Saturday afternoon in winning the race in […]

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Amid spectator boos and jeers, and fellow student-athletes’ protests, East Valley of Spokane transgender senior Veronica Garcia accomplished what she set out to do – win another Class 2A girls 400-meter dash at the WIAA championships in Tacoma.

As the defending champion, Garcia led from near-start to finish Saturday afternoon in winning the race in 55.70 seconds at Mount Tahoma Stadium.

League rival Lauren Matthew, of West Valley of Spokane, finished second at 56.75. Cedarcrest’s Lydia Swenson was third at 57.72.

And yet, what should’ve been a joyous occasion for any repeat state-meet winner, Garcia was met by a wave of loud boss and leave-girls-sports-to-girls remarks from spectators sitting in the grandstands and standing around the infield fences, according to observers.

On the awards’ stand afterward, a couple the podium finishers refused to share the spotlight with Garcia as the event champion.

Another group of competing athletes wore T-shirts that read, “Keep Women’s Sports Female.”

After Garcia finished her day in the girls’ 4×400 relay, she spoke to a group of media members, including reporters from the (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, (Vancouver) Columbian, The Seattle Times and the (Tacoma) News Tribune.

“I’m really proud of myself,” Garcia told reporters. “I did what I came to do, and that’s good enough for me.”

For nearly two decades, the WIAA has allowed transgender students to compete in athletics, and in the gender-specific divisions in which they identify personally.

In other words, Garcia broke no rules Saturday. But that didn’t stop the loud sirens of disapproval shown by others in the stadium.

“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia told reporters. “But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, ‘I wanted to give up,’ but angry as in, ‘I’m going to push.'”

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Dodgers Place Luis Garcia On 15

The Dodgers have placed right-hander Luis Garcia on the 15-day injured list due to a right adductor strain.  The placement is retroactive to May 29.  Righty Noah Davis was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Now in his 13th Major League season, Garcia has a 4.50 ERA in 26 innings for Los Angeles, […]

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Dodgers Place Luis Garcia On 15

The Dodgers have placed right-hander Luis Garcia on the 15-day injured list due to a right adductor strain.  The placement is retroactive to May 29.  Righty Noah Davis was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Now in his 13th Major League season, Garcia has a 4.50 ERA in 26 innings for Los Angeles, along with a below-average 19.8% strikeout rate and an ungainly 12.9% walk rate.  Garcia’s 4.13 SIERA is a bit more favorable since the groundball specialist has been hampered by a .364 BABIP, but he is also allowing a lot of hard contact.

Garcia signed a minor league contract with L.A. in February and locked in $1.5MM in guaranteed salary when that contract was selected in advance of the Dodgers’ early Opening Day in Tokyo.  While his results have been up and down over his lengthy career, Garcia has generally been pretty durable, which probably helped his bid to make the team given the injury woes that have only worsened for the Dodgers’ pitching staff as the season has developed.

Incredibly, Garcia is the 15th pitcher currently on the team’s injured list.  (That number could be viewed as 16, if you consider that Shohei Ohtani is still going through his pitching rehab.)  Some help may be coming soon, as manager Dave Roberts told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other media today that relievers Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates could both be activated within the next week.

Getting those two quality bullpen arms back is a nice boost for the team, but needless to say, pitching health is once again a major subplot of the Dodgers’ season.  While the elite L.A. offense has carried the Dodgers back to first place in the NL West, pitching figures to be a deadline need for Los Angeles regardless of how many hurlers have returned from the IL by July 31.

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