At the beginning of the season, Park City head volleyball coach Ashley Driscoll had her players sit down and write season-long goals on a piece of paper. One of the common goals was to make the girls' 3A state volleyball tournament.

That goal is now a reality for the Miner squad (16-9 overall, 4-6 in Region 10) as Park City is slated to face 3A powerhouse Morgan (19-3 overall, 12-0 in Region 11) in the first round of the 3A state tournament Friday at 12:30 p.m at Utah Valley University in Orem. The tournament is a double-elimination format.

On Monday, Driscoll and the team sat down to address their next set of goals.

"We're going to be specifically going over each match and what they want to do in each match," said Park City's head coach. "By focusing on what we're doing on our side of the court, that should help lend success to a successful tournament for us."

Park City's tough region schedule should also help the Miners adjust to the demands of the playoff tournament. Judge Memorial dominated region play this season, finishing 28-2 overall and undefeated in region at 10-0, while Juan Diego is a strong No. 2 seed out of Region 10 at 20-7 overall and 8-2 in region.

"I think the experience of playing some tougher teams going into state should help us," Driscoll said. "We were able to adjust to certain teams, implement multiple defenses we can use now, which is great. We definitely became more strategic through our offense because we had to. I think that's a really great experience for the girls to have had."

Driscoll said, to get her team into a playoff state of mind, practices leading up to Friday's 3A opener against Morgan will be as intense as they have been all year.

"I just want them to be aggressive in everything they do," Driscoll said. "When we're aggressive and we can control the ball on our side, we see the results."

On the attacking side of the ball, Park City is led by sophomore outside hitter Tressa Buckland, who leads the team with 153 kills this season. Junior middle blocker Hailey Whipple is next with 102. Sisters Megan and Chrissy Glasmann are tied for third with 87 kills this year.

Sophomore setter Sammee Thomas leads the team in aces served with 39, while Whipple and senior Sierra Shearer are tied for second with 21. On the defensive side, Whipple leads with 75 blocks, while senior Laura McLevish is second with 58.

Shearer leads the team in digs with 174 digs, while Buckland and sophomore Jo Henry are tied for second with 134 apiece. From her setter position, Thomas has dominated the ball handling for the Miners with 442 assists.

The Miners will have to slow down a fast-paced Trojan offense led by senior Cassidee Lish (249 blocks, 51 aces, 19 blocks, 145 digs) and junior McKenzie Schenk (192 kills, 29 aces, 26 blocks, 31 digs).

"We've worked on so many things over the course of the season, with different defenses and learning how to adjust to strong offenses, and whether they're an offense that places the ball more or swings hard, we've worked on our defenses," Driscoll said. "My goal, obviously, is I'd like to see them go really far. I'd like to see it all come together and see them leave it all out on the floor."