Second fiddle no more. Skyview volleyball reaches new heights with state title.
The Skyview High volleyball team ended each of the past two seasons in tears, clutching the second-place trophy at the end of the 5A state tournament.
But the Hawks ended Saturday on a different note — with a state championship banner and smiles all around.
Skyview beat conference rival Boise in five sets (25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 20-25, 15-6) at Skyline High in Idaho Falls, clinching the perennial power its first 5A state championship and a perfect season.
Skyview (15-0) coach Kevin Murphy said coming so close to a championship two years in a row makes this one even sweeter.
“It’s just special,” Murphy said. “When you’ve been on the other side, you know what it’s like and how hard it is to win it.”
Skyview has emerged as one of the state’s top programs regardless of classification in recent years. Saturday marked the Hawks’ sixth straight trip to the championship round, and it won a pair of 4A titles in 2016 and 2017.
But a 5A title eluded Skyview as it fell to Thunder Ridge and Madison in the last two championship games.
Teams from the east side of the state — Idaho’s traditional seat of volleyball power — entered the state tournament with a decided advantage as their schools largely pushed through the coronavirus pandemic and played a full season. Skyview, on the other hand, didn’t play its first match until Sept. 15 as the Nampa School District took a cautious approach in the face of high community spread.
But that didn’t slow down the Hawks, the first 5A Southern Idaho Conference team to win a state championship since 2010.
Nor did it stop Boise (9-7), which joined Skyview in the final for the first all-SIC championship match since 2009.
“What a special crew to go from start to finish,” Murphy said. “We didn’t have a summer, really. Our summer stuff, we were able to get in the weight room in bits. We were able to do some individual skills in bits. But in a normal summer, we have a ton of games and are going to Las Vegas and Salt Lake.
“… To see it this week, the camaraderie that gets built and relationships that get built — for all that to happen this year without those things, it’s awesome.”
Skyview won the first two sets Saturday and appeared destined to steamroll its 5A SIC East Division foe for the fourth time this season. But the Brave rallied to force a fifth set.
Skyview never flinched, though, and blew past Boise 15-6 in the deciding set.
“If you looked in the huddle or in their eyes, there was no dejection,” Murphy said. “There was no feeling sorry for themselves. They knew all that matters is the next one to 15.”
Eden Bower led Skyview with 25 kills and 17 digs in the championship match. Leyah de Souza finished with 18 kills, including the state-title-clinching one in the fifth set. And Sydney Nay (seven kills, seven digs), Shannon Mowry (two kills, six blocks) and Alex Bower (two aces, three blocks, 11 digs) made key contributions.
Boise fell just short of its first state volleyball title with its underdog run. The Brave finished fifth at their district tournament and needed to win a play-in game just to qualify for the state tournament.
But they still return from Idaho Falls with the program’s best state tournament finish since at least 1985, as far back as available records date. Idaho began its official state volleyball tournament in 1976.
MIDDLETON FINISHES SECOND IN 4A
The Vikings (10-1) lost their first match of the season in the 4A state final, falling in straight sets (25-18, 26-24, 25-23) to Lakeland.
The victory marks the first volleyball state championship for the Hawks (13-6). Lakeland is the first team from the 4A Inland Empire League to win state since 2008 as Bonneville, Century and Skyview had combined to win the past 11 4A state titles.
The second-place finish is Middleton’s best at the 4A state tournament and its best overall since winning its only state title at the 3A level in 2005.
TRI-VALLEY RALLIES FOR FIRST STATE TITLE
Tri-Valley dropped the first set of the 1A Division II state championship to undefeated Castleford. But the Titans bounced back to win the next three sets (25-27, 27-25, 25-21, 25-17) for the athletic program’s first state championship in any sport.
“It’s a huge milestone,” Tri-Valley coach Jennifer Uhlenkott said. “Some of these girls have been playing together since second, third grade. So to finish this way with my two seniors is pretty special.”
Tri-Valley (21-2) was formed in 2005-06 as a joint effort between Cambridge and Midvale high schools. Midvale had never won a state volleyball title, while Cambridge won its last one in 1994.
That history led to an emotional postgame celebration, Uhlenkott said.
“Instead of being the group jumping up and down screaming, we were over the moon and all in tears,” Uhlenkott said. “The moms kept saying, ‘Let’s get the happy shot,’ and they were all drying up their tears.”
Zoe Ertel led the Titans with 15 kills, 21 digs, seven blocks and two aces. Larissa Hansen added nine kills, 18 digs and two aces.
Amanda Uhlenkott stuffed the stat sheet with six kills, 38 assists, 18 digs, four blocks and three aces. Bailey Whitener contributed nine kills and 17 digs, and Abigale Atniip finished with 32 digs.
- Class 3A: Sugar-Salem (32-3) repeated as state champ and won its fourth title in five years with a sweep of Kimberly (25-9, 25-13, 25-14). Parma (21-2) fell to the Diggers in the semifinals but rebounded to beat Fruitland in five sets (25-17, 21-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-13) to take the third-place trophy.
- Class 2A: West Side (19-4) knocked off conference rival Bear Lake in five sets (22-25, 25-15, 20-25, 25-17, 15-12) for the title. Nampa Christian (18-7) finished third after a four-set win over Melba.
- Class 1A Division I: Grace (19-10) won its first state title with a 25-16, 26-24, 25-18 win over Genesee.
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 11:10 PM.
