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Maybe the most appropriate word for the Lehi volleyball team these days is flux.

But, while the composition of the squad is almost entirely changed from the one that earned the Class 5A state championship last year, the current group debuted without much of a hitch in sweeping West 25-13, 25-20, 25-16 on Thursday night.

Many of Lehi's top players from 2015 were seniors and a significant portion of those who didn't graduate are now at the new school in town — Skyridge. And the holdovers came back to a new coach as former Timpview assistant Tambre Nobles took over for Jamie Ingersoll, who retired after leading the team to the title.

They may be in a state of flux, but the current Pioneers don't seem particularly flummoxed.

"I was really proud of the way we came out fighting, passed really well, served tough," Nobles said. "We kind of let up in the middle of it, but we were able to stay composed and go back to what we were doing at the beginning.

"They've stepped in and done really well," she added. "I've got a really great senior core group that's leading all these young girls and helping them out."

Against the Panthers, senior Bryanna Raff scored 14 kills from her right side hitting position. Fellow senior Marta Ellsworth, who was part of the Lehi rotation last year, also had a pair of kills and a block in the middle of the front line.

On the left, Kylie Jacklin scored 10 kills while also contributing three aces.

"We've just tried to focus on what we have at Lehi. We were kind of disappointed that we couldn't all stay together at the same school," Raff said. "So we just decided that we wanted to become the best that we could be. Work hard in practice and focus on what we could control."

"If we keep working hard, I think we have a good chance at the state tournament," she continued.

West (0-2), which lost to American Fork in its opener on Tuesday, was never in contention in the first set. But solid serving by the Panthers kept the hosts in the second.

Four West players — freshman Leinata Leakehe, junior Afton Wylie, freshman Lome Leo and senior Sinai Tupou — recorded serving aces in the second set and helped their team to a 14-11 lead.

But Lehi, down 15-13, responded with seven straight points as Jacklin and Raff bookended the run with kills. The Pioneers finished off the match by never trailing in the third set, pulling away with runs of 7-1 and 8-1 at different junctures.

Like the Pioneers, West has a new coach — albeit a veteran one — in Kim Norman, previous leader at Highland High and Westminster College.

"We're young. We're a little inexperienced. We're asking kids to do a lot of things they've never done before," said Norman, whose team was led by Tupou's three kills and Wylie's three blocks. "We're focusing on the community, the classroom and the volleyball court, so they're overwhelmed with all this responsibility stuff.

"Experience is a brutal teacher. She gives the test first and the lesson second," Norman said. "We're getting a lot of tests and we're following up with the lessons." —

Storylines

R Defending Class 5A state champ Lehi made its 2016 debut by sweeping West behind 14 kills from senior Bryanna Raff.

• Kylie Jacklin added 10 kills and three aces for the Pioneers.

• Four West players recorded serving aces in the second set as the Panthers briefly took a three-point lead.