Siblings at the center of Skyview volleyball’s decade-long tradition of dominance
Skyview High senior Leyah de Souza affectionately referred to freshman teammate Alex Bower as “our little baby” during a post-game interview.
While Bower is one of just two freshmen on the Hawks’ varsity volleyball team, the 5-foot-10 setter has a gift beyond her 15 years — and it seems to run in the family.
Alex is the fourth Bower sister to play for Skyview coach Kevin Murphy. Morgan, a libero, and Whitney, a setter, are now at BYU. The third oldest, Eden Bower, is a 6-3 junior outside hitter for the Hawks who has also committed to play for BYU.
And keeping with sisterly tradition, Alex, Eden and the rest of the Hawks extended Skyview’s string of district championships to 10 in a row with a 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21 victory over Eagle in the 5A District Three Tournament title match Thursday at Capital High.
Skyview claimed seven consecutive district titles in the 4A SIC, beginning in 2011, and has now won three more championships since moving up to the 5A classification in 2018.
“We’ve got kids who have a passion for volleyball. They want to play all the time, and they just love it,” Murphy said. “We’ve just been fortunate to have kids who are really committed to wanting to play, whether it be committing in the summer, committing to club in the offseason or committing to the weight room. We just have a lot of kids who get what it takes and love the game.”
Alex finished with 41 assists, eight digs, five kills and one ace in the title match, and Eden led the Hawks in kills (23), digs (13) and aces (3). De Souza added 14 kills, four digs and an ace to help Skyview improve to 19-0 this season.
“Alex is a huge asset,” de Souza said. “We love her to death. She’s like our little baby but also our team captain at the same time. We love having her, and I don’t know what we would do without her.”
Murphy, who is in his 18th season as the Hawks’ head coach, and the Skyview program have benefited over the years from seven sets of sibling standouts. Current senior middle blocker Shannon Mowry also had an older sister who played for the Hawks, and senior Morgan Nay and sophomore Sydney Nay followed in the footsteps of their older sister, Dani. Former player Carly Dranginis, whose older sister, Cammy, also played for Skyview, is now an assistant coach.
And, brace yourselves, there are still three more Bower sisters yet to come through the Skyview pipeline.
“The families we have are so competitive. Their moms are competitive, their older sisters are competitive, and the younger sisters,” Murphy said. “... We’re just lucky to have a lot of support with the families and the community and the kids. The kids look forward to playing volleyball, and it’s a big deal. It’s important.”
Skyview appeared to be in for an easy night, up 18-9 over Eagle in the opening set Friday, but the Mustangs fought their way to within 23-21 before falling 25-21. The second set was tied on six occasions, including 20-20 and 21-21. A de Souza kill closed out the second game 25-23.
Eagle turned the tables on Skyview in the third set, leading as much as 20-8. But the Hawks didn’t deflate despite the large deficit, staving off game point eight consecutive times before eventually dropping the set 25-22.
“It’s just us believing in each other,” Eden said. “Even though we lost (the third set), it’s just one point at a time. We’re still in the game, and we’re going to get better.”
Eagle got out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, and the two teams were tied at 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. A de Souza service ace put Skyview ahead 15-14, and the Hawks never trailed the rest of the way.
Eagle setter Gabby Roberts dished out 46 assists, outside hitter Tara Murphy contributed 15 kills and libero Kylie Taylor had a match-high 19 digs. The Mustangs lost to Mountain View in the second round of the district tournament and had to win three straight loser-out matches to get back to the championship game.
“After a tough loss to Mountain View, I was super proud of our kids to respond and come back in those next three matches,” Eagle coach Collin Hartman said. “... With the craziness of our season, with just some of the limitations and playing in pods, we didn’t play as many matches as we usually do. It feels like we played more matches this week than we played all year.”
Skyview, Eagle, Mountain View and Timberline all advance to the 5A state tournament Oct. 30-31 at Skyline High in Idaho Falls. Boise can also qualify by winning a play-in game against Post Falls on Saturday.
“Our goal this time is just to push through to the end,” de Souza said of state. “I think we have a really solid team. We have a really good chance again. Once we get ourselves in that position, I don’t think that we’re going to let it go again.”
4A: Middleton wins district title
Middleton swept Nampa 25-13, 27-25, 25-23 on Thursday to win its second 4A District Three Tournament championship in three seasons.
The Vikings advance to state as the No. 1 seed from District Three and will face the winner of Saturday’s play-in game between Emmett and Shelley. Nampa draws the No. 2 seed and opens tournament play against Burley. The 4A state tournament runs Oct. 30-31 at Kimberly High.
3A: Parma (19-1) held off Fruitland 25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19 to claim the district championship. Brooke Johnson posted 15 kills and nine blocks to lead the Panthers, and Katie Compas added 34 assists, eight blocks and 14 digs. The 3A state tournament will be played at Twin Falls High.
2A: Melba collected its first district championship since 1993 with a 3-1 win over Nampa Christian. Both teams qualify for state next week at Buhl High. New Plymouth could qualify for state by defeating Firth in Saturday’s play-in game.
1A D-I: Liberty Charter swept North Star Charter 25-19, 25-12, 25-20. The 1A D-I state tournament will be played at Jerome High. Both teams advance to state, and Greenleaf could also advance with a win in Saturday’s play-in game against Oakley.
1A D-II: Horseshoe Bend defeated Tri-Valley 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23 in the district title match to punch its ticket to the 1A D-II state tournament next week at Burley High. Tri-Valley must win a play-in game Saturday against Carey to advance to state.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 12:27 AM.
