Whatever court Courtney Lamborn is on, she competes.

It's never more true than on the volleyball court, where the senior helped lead Rich back to the finals this year. As an outside hitter, Lamborn was consistent, intense and maybe a little intimidating.

"She's a true competitor to the highest level," coach Cindy Stuart says. "She makes our team better by her expectations and puts it all out there. She's one of the best all-around starters I've ever coached."

Lamborn brought fire to a group of seniors who had been playing volleyball together since fourth grade, dreaming of playing for the Rebels.

It took a lot of tweaking and refining in practice, Lamborn said, and Stuart pushed her pretty hard.

"She knows how to get you to play your best — if you're passing at 59 percent, she'll get on you until you pass 60 percent," Lamborn says. "Basically, we tried to remember volleyball is fun and winning is fun, so let's go out and have fun."

Lamborn was not much fun for opponents this year, knocking in 467 kills on the season. Her efforts helped beat strong teams from higher classifications, such as Sky View, Delta and Enterprise.

Rich fell short of winning a championship this year, as Monticello upset the Rebels in a 3-0 final that gave the Buckaroos their first title in more than two decades.

Stuart says normally, any season short of a championship she considers to be a disappointment. But this year's Rich team was different.

"I hate to lose more than anything, but this is the first time I've been able to say I really enjoyed the season more than I hated to lose a championship," she says. "We beat some great teams, we won tournaments — it was a real treat to coach these girls."

Similarly, Lamborn has seen how despite not winning it all, this year's Rebels team is worth remembering.

"We definitely didn't play our best in the last game, but I thought it was an awesome season," she says. "I wouldn't change that last game for the season we had this year."

kgoon@sltrib.com

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