Skyview volleyball has winning combination for 12th straight district championship
Depending on whom you ask, there are different reasons for the Skyview High volleyball program’s sustained success.
Ask head coach Kevin Murphy, and he’ll tell you it’s the players.
Ask starting setter Alex Bower, and she’ll pin the credit on her coach.
The most likely answer? A healthy combination of the two.
The Hawks defeated Columbia 25-17, 25-17, 25-10 in the 4A District Three Tournament championship Wednesday at Columbia High. It was the program’s 12th consecutive district title spanning the 4A and 5A classifications. The streak began in 2011 with seven straight titles at the 4A level, followed by four in a row in the 5A SIC. Skyview returned to the 4A classification this fall.
“We’re just lucky to have a lot of good kids year in and year out,” Murphy said. “I wish there was more to it. We just have really good kids. Kids that really like volleyball, and put a lot of time in in the offseason. They work. They do it. They put in what’s needed to be successful.”
Skyview (19-6) will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s state tournament and open play against the eighth-ranked qualifier, which is to be determined, at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at Thunder Ridge High School in Idaho Falls.
The Hawks have won two straight state championships in the 5A classification and return to 4A looking to add to the program’s total of four state titles.
“We just need to raise our level like we have been all season,” Skyview outside hitter Alex Acevedo said. “I think we’ve been on a steady incline. I’m just hoping we can keep that going.”
In their third meeting this season with Columbia, the Hawks maintained control of the match throughout, never trailing by more than two points in any of the three sets. Skyview’s dominant hitters combined for 45 kills, accounting for 60 percent of the team’s points.
Acevedo, a junior who is committed to Oregon, led the way with 22 kills. She had the team’s final kill in all three sets. Fellow outside hitter Bellamie Beus, a freshman, added 11 kills, and Bower — a BYU commit — contributed 40 assists and four kills of her own.
“I really think that’s the key, if we can win the first touch,” Murphy said. “We’ve got such a great second touch and such a great third touch, so if that first touch can go our way, it puts us in a really good position to win.”
Columbia was led by senior outside hitter Maggie Mills with 12 digs, seven kills and one block, while senior setter Mandi Nottingham had 19 assists and six digs, and junior libero Khalila Salinas totaled 15 digs.
Columbia (26-5) will face Ridgevue (8-9) at 6 p.m. Thursday for the district’s second state berth.
This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 11:22 PM.
