‘This group of girls is super special.’ Eagle volleyball repeats as 5A SIC champion
It’s one thing to win the district championship once and enter the next season as preseason No. 1. It’s another thing to back up those credentials.
But that’s precisely what Eagle did this season and Thursday night, beating Owyhee High in straight sets (25-16, 25-18, 25-16) on the the Storm’s own court to claim their second straight 5A District Three Tournament title and improve to 29-3 this year.
“We have a really good mix of some new kids that are playing huge roles for us on the court, paired with some fantastic returning all-conference kids that have been here before,” Eagle coach Collin Hartman said. “So they can be a little bit calmer in these moments and really put the team on their back.”
Thursday night’s championship was a rematch of Wednesday’s semifinal between the two schools. Eagle won that in five sets after losing the first two, knocking Owyhee (22-5) down in the double-elimination tournament. The Storm then beat Timberline in straight sets Thursday afternoon, and they needed back-to-back wins over Eagle to claim the crown.
The Mustangs weren’t about to let that happen, looking comfortable for most of the championship match.
Eagle won the first set comfortably behind tremendous, instinctive defense from senior libero Avery Hassman, who finished the game with 13 digs.
The second set was more balanced, with Owyhee standouts Mikailya Gerhardt and Mikale Roy combining for 33 kills and 17 kills. The Storm held a 12-11 lead at one point, but Eagle rallied. The Mustangs then cruised ahead in the third set and never looked back.
“Our match yesterday against Owyhee was just an epic match,” Hartman said. “When we talked before the match today, we said, ‘Hey, we finished really strong yesterday.’ And so we said we’re going to do the same thing that we did yesterday to start (today), and didn’t have to make as many adjustments because it worked well.”
The star on the night for Eagle was the ever-present Delaney Bub, a first-team all-state player last season. The senior outside hitter came out of the game only once, early in the first set, and racked up nine kills.
Bub said Wednesday’s game against Owyhee helped prepare her team for Thursday. Eagle also defeated Owyhee 3-1 way back in August.
“We really tried to focus on blocking and lining up all the way on the line so we could defend and help our back row out as well,” Bub said.
Both teams now will turn their attention to the state tournament at Lake City next week. Seeds won’t be announced until Sunday, but Eagle, Owyhee, Timberline and Rocky Mountain have all punched their tickets. Mountain View and Middleton have one last chance to make it to state with play-in games Saturday.
“We’re so excited. We are obviously working for that state championship, definitely something that we want to do,” Bub said. “We weren’t necessarily able to pull it through last year, but this is absolutely a year that I think we can, and I think this group of girls is super special.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2023 at 9:50 PM.