Grantsville started their quest for the 3A state volleyball championship with a first-round match against upstart Desert Hills on Thursday. The Cowboys had their hands full but came from behind to beat the Thunder 3-2.

However, Grantsville suffered a heart-breaking loss in the quarterfinals 2-3 to Delta on Friday at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Even with the tough loss to the Rabbits, Grantsville came back Friday and knocked off Region 11 foe Logan 3-1. Then in the battle for fifth place in state, the Cowboys fell to Juan Diego 1-3 to lay claim to seventh place in 3A, their best finish ever in 3A.

Grantsville 3 — Desert Hills 2

Playing in a different setting can take a toll on players, but the Cowboys came back after falling behind two games and beat Desert Hills 22-25, 18-25, 28-26, 25-19 and 15-10. Desert Hills hard hitters pushed the Cowboys to perform their best.

The first two games of the match the Cowboys struggled to play and communicate together, but after the second game coach Heidi Heath read a Winners Creed to the girls and their playing turned around.

“I told them that if they thought they were beaten they were, but if they could turn around and think they could win they would,” she said. “Some of the girls became emotional, but then they started playing as a team.”

Game four was an eventful turn for the Cowboys. Ashley Bartlett’s hard spike hitting off a Desert Hills player sent the ball up into the stands, bringing the Cowboys to within two (9-11) of Desert Hills. Bartlett had a strong game with five strong spikes keeping Desert Hills on their toes.

It was also a great serving game for Grantsville. Where most of the points earned were from errors on part of Desert Hills, in game four Kelsi Wells had a five point run that brought the score to 18-13.

The game ended on a good note with Marissa Robbins final spike over the heads of the Desert Hills players.

Game five was also a serving show for the Cowboys. Bartlett again had a run of two points scored during one of her serves. However, Chelsea Dalton really stepped up for the Cowboys with her four point serve run, including one ace, bringing the score to 12-7.

The ball changed posession a couple more times before Robbins hand tipped the ball over the net to bring the Cowboys within one of the victory. It didn’t happen immediately, but the Cowboys pushed forward and ended up winning the last game 15-10.

Heath said it was extremely exciting for her team to be put in this position.

“We are a young team,” she said. “Only two of our players have ever been in this type of situation before. It was exciting to see them come back and win after being down by two.”

Delta 3 — Grantsville 2

Although Grantsville came out and made every set a battle between the Rabbits they ended up falling to them in five games (23-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15 and 15-9).

“The girls couldn’t have played any harder,” Heath said.

Game two was when Grantsville really pushed the Rabbits to their limits. Breanna Bunderson helped the team immensely with a nine point serve run ending the game and leveling the match at a game a piece.

Game three Bunderson’s serves also helped, but were not enough to bring another win to the Cowboys. Bartlett had a number of spikes to help the Cowboys, while Bartlett’s serves also brought their score closer to the Rabbits.

Game four, the Cowboys came back and put the Rabbits in their hole. Both Bartlett and Dalton had excellent service games. Bartlett earned five points on service. But unfortunately after those five points Delta took a timeout and came out and regained control of the ball. Dalton helped by having a three point run, and Bunderson also added a two point run to the Cowboys score.

The fifth game of the match was a disappointment for the Cowboys. They could not keep control of the ball and ended up losing 9-15, earning their first loss of the tournament.

Coach Heath blamed the loss on herself.

“This loss is mine,” she said. “I just didn’t have them in good enough shape. They just ran out of gas at the end.”

She said she’s sad for the team, but feels they can still have a good tournament.

“I’m sad they can’t take first, but we can still have a great tournament (Friday),” she said.

Grantsville 3 — Logan 1

Grantsville showed real heart. After suffering a rough loss to Delta and then dropping the first game to Logan, things looked bleek. However, the Cowboys fought hard and won three consecutive games against the Grizzlies to win 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-21 and 25-18).

Grantsville came out of the gates quickly by starting the first game with a 7-2 run sparked by a couple of key kills by Winter Johnson and Ashley Bartlett, but Logan came storming back.

Logan went on a 8-3 run to tie the game at 12-12 and put themselves back in the game. Even with the score tied at 18-18 it was anybodys game, then the Grizzlies went on a decisive run. A 7-1 run for Logan sparked by Ayla Teuscher who had three kills in that stretch, sealed the first game in Logans’s favor 19-25.

Not looking to let up on the Cowboys, Logan started the second game with a 7-3 lead, but Grantsville slowly chipped away. In this back-and-forth game, Grantsville took a slim 13-12 lead thanks to a 7-3 run. The play of Robbins was instrumental for the Cowboy to keep their lead throughout to even the match at a game a piece with a 25-22 win.

Logan again jumped out to an early lead in the third game but that is when Grantsville went on a 10-3 run that changed the momentum in their favor. Kelsi Wells and Robbins each had two kills each in the run to give the Cowboys a 16-11 lead and rode the lead to a 25-21 win to give Grantsville the edge.

Looking to close out the match, the Cowboys used a key 10-3 run ignited by Bartlett who had two kills and two blocks in the run and the strong serve of Annie Young also help build the lead.

Even with a 7-2 run late in the fourth game giving the Cowboys a 23-13 lead, Logan would not go away quietly. Making the game seem a lot closer, the Grizzlies could not stop the inevitable as Wells slammed the game-winning kill right in the back corner to place Grantsville in the fifth-seveth place game.

Juan Diego 3 — Grantsville 1

Juan Diego came out quick and flashed some powerful serving in route to winning the first two game of the match. Grantsville battled back in the third game but wound up losing the fourth and finsihing the 3A state tourney with a 1-3 loss (18-25, 11-25, 25-22 and 19-25).

Grantsville started out lightning quick in the first game and looked to be the more powerful team. An 8-1 run to open the match was spearheaded by the serve of Wells and the net play of Robbins that gave the Cowboys an ideal start.

Juan Diego did seem to wake up and hurled many powerful jump serves, compiling enough for a impressive 16-4 run to give the Soaring Eagle a 17-12 lead. From there they were able to coast to a 25-18 victory in the first.

The momentum continued to be on Juan Diego’s side as they jumped out to a quick 10-7 lead over the Cowboys in the second game and it didn’t get better from there. The Soaring Eagle again built another impressive 15-4 run to end the second game leaving the Cowboys reeling.

Trailing by two games Grantsville needed to regroup quickly, and they did exactly that. An 11-3 run mid-way through the third game proved to be huge for Grantsville. Bartlett and Robbins really helped spark the run with their play at the net. Juan Diego did forge a late rally but the Cowboys held on to force a fourth game with a 25-22 win.

Juan Diego used a 9-2 run in the middle of the fourth game for a 17-8 lead and rode that to a 25-19 match clinching game, earning fifth place.

Coming into the 3A state tournament as the third place team from Region 11, Grantsville fought hard throughout the tournament and laid claim to seveth in all of 3A. “I think we accomplished all the goals that we had set before the season,” said Heath. “This has been the most improved team from beginning of the season to the end.”

Coach Heath also took the opportunity to talk about her three seniors who played their last volleyball game for Grantsville. “Ashley (Bartlett) is a very sound volleyball and hard working person no matter what she is doing,” said Heath.

Annie Young has been libero since her sophomore year and coach Heath mentioned how much Annie had improved over the season, even playing through a bout of sickness this season, which showed real determination.

Last but not least of the leaving seniors is Jillianne Harris. “She went from playing half of the JV games last year to being the main setter this year and racking up assists each game,” said Heath. “One of the games I remember the most is the Ben Lomond game in which she broke her nose and still managed to pile up 55 assists.”

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com Abby Palmer: apalmer@tooeletranscript.com