It was smooth sailing for the Riverhawks in the early going, but the Wolves bounced back and certainly made things interesting.
Nevertheless, Ridgeline made enough plays late in the third and fourth sets to pull out a 25-10, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25 victory over Green Canyon in the Region 11 opener for both boys volleyball programs on Tuesday evening in North Logan.
In other region action, defending champion Logan traveled to Garland and swept Bear River, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16, while West Field dispatched of visiting Mountain Crest in straight sets, 25-12, 25-15, 25-21. Additionally, Sky View came up short on the road in a competitive four-setter against 6A Farmington, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 25-22.
Matthew Hansen recorded a double-double for the Riverhawks who, like the Wolves, have already played in nine matches this season, which started last week. Hansen finished with 14 kills and 13 digs.
Standout libero Jentzen Budge accounted for an impressive 26 digs and passed at a 2.28 clip, and Ridgeline (5-4, 1-0) also got 12 kills from Josh Smart, 25 assists from Kolby Laing, plus 12 digs from Sam McMullen.
"Overall we played well," Ridgeline head coach Paul Warren said. "We were missing one of our starting middle's today due to illness. This year has been all about adjustments and asking players to fill different roles. We recently moved Aaron Young to the middle and he's doing a good job. We have Joshua Smart playing outside and he's adjusting well. Green Canyon played much better after the first set. They had some really tough serves at times. Sets two through four were close and I felt like our guys just found a way to pull out the win. I'm glad we get a practice day in tomorrow as we haven't had many in the last seven days."
Joseph Brough nearly contributed with a double-double for the Wolves (5-4, 0-1) as he had nine kills and nine digs. Luke Baker played well for Green Canyon as he converted on all five of his attack attempts, plus produced an impressive seven solo blocks. Griffin Blau chipped in with 18 digs and three aces for the Wolves, who got 13 assists from Keaton Crosbie and a double-double of 12 digs and 11 assists from Landon Sam Fong.
It was a good region opener for Logan, which is still adjusting to life without all six starters from its 26-4 squad from a year ago. Aidan Kent and Zack Merrill contributed with seven kills apiece and teamed up for eight aces, plus Kent hit at a .500 clip. Josh Merrill and Davis Whiting accounted for one solo block and three block assists apiece for the Grizzlies (3-3, 1-0), while Josh Merrill dished out 30 assists.
"We're excited to get back into the swing of regular season," LHS head coach Preston Howe said. "The boys have been waiting forever. This year we are primarily focused on growth, but we're also looking to repeat the success from last year. A win to start the season is awesome for our program. We're looking to develop some younger players and I was very excited to see how they performed today. ... We're excited to see the results of the other games played in region and can't wait to compete with them as well."
No statistics were available for West Field's (2-5, 1-0) triumph over Mountain Crest (0-2, 0-1). It was only the second match of the season for the Mustangs.
Sky View (0-3) came close to forcing a decisive fifth set against Farmington. Bearett Jackman paced the Bobcats in kills (16) and blocks (three), while Jacob McUne finished with a team-high 10 digs, Carson McUne chipped in with eight kills and seven digs and Hayden Davis dished out 31 assists.