Skyview dominates, Horseshoe Bend three-peats as Boise area wins 4 state volleyball titles
The Skyview High volleyball team experienced some rare turbulence Saturday evening in the 4A state championship match in Post Falls.
It didn’t last long.
The Hawks overcame an early 6-1 deficit to cruise to their fourth straight state championship. They beat Bonneville 25-21, 25-13, 25-8 in the final. Bonneville would have needed to win twice.
Skyview didn’t lose a set in its four state matches, and hasn’t lost to a single Idaho team during its four-year run. Two of the titles were at the 5A level and two at 4A.
“It’s just a great way for us to cap off our senior class,” Skyview coach Kevin Murphy said.
The Hawks’ middle blockers were particularly potent at the tournament, Murphy said. They fired more than 70 shots at their opponents with just one hitting error, he said.
Outside hitter Bellamie Beus was “dominant,” he said, while four-year senior starters Alex Bower and Melissa Eyer contributed strong defense and kept the Hawks’ attack rolling.
Beus finished with 17 kills, 12 digs and two blocks. Bower posted an all-around line of four kills, two aces, two blocks, seven digs and 31 assists. And Eyer had 12 digs.
“Bonneville got off to a great start — kind of got us on our heels,” said Murphy, whose team finished 29-6 overall and 18-0 against Idaho teams this season. “We really challenge ourselves outside of conference. We go try to play the very best competition that we can. … We’ve been down that road where we’ve been down, things aren’t going our way. We know how to handle them after going through the grind and gauntlet of our nonconference schedule.”
Skyview was one of four Boise-area state champions in volleyball, joining Fruitland (3A), Melba (2A) and Horseshoe Bend (1A Division II). The Hawks have won six titles in the past eight seasons — 2016 and ‘17 at 4A, 2020 and ‘21 at 5A, and 2022 and ‘23 at 4A.
5A: EAGLE’S COMEBACK FALLS JUST SHORT
Eagle won four straight matches, across 15 total sets, to set up a winner-take-all showdown with Madison for the 5A title at Lake City High.
And the Mustangs built a significant lead, taking the first set 25-20 in the best-of-three final and climbing out to leads of 19-13 and 22-19 in the second set.
The Bobcats stormed back with five straight points and took the second set 27-25. They added a 15-8 win in the final set of the abbreviated format.
Madison had beaten Eagle in three sets — two of them 26-24 — in the semifinals of the winners bracket earlier in the tournament. Eagle topped Coeur d’Alene and Owyhee in four sets and Post Falls in three to earn a rematch.
But the Mustangs needed to beat the Bobcats twice. They won the first meeting 25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21 to force the if-necessary match.
3A: FRUITLAND BACK ON TOP
The fourth-seeded Grizzlies (18-9) captured their first state title since 2014 at Coeur d’Alene High.
Fruitland rallied past Kimberly in a five-set barn burner in the 3A semifinals, scoring a 25-22, 8-25, 20-25, 26-24, 16-14 victory in a rematch of last year’s finals.
The Grizzlies then carried that momentum into a sweep of Snake River (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) for the third title in program history.
Fruitland’s Brooke Hardy racked up 22 kills and 25 digs in the championship match. Eva Wall added 20 kills and 10 digs, and Aleksi Drollinger finished with five aces and 38 assists.
2A: MELBA REPEATS AS CHAMPS
The Mustangs (26-8-1) lost seven players from the first state title team in program history last year, including four now playing a college sport. But fourth-seeded Melba stormed through the bracket again to earn another championship banner.
Melba edged Malad in five sets in the semifinals, then swept the Dragons in the finals 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 behind 23 kills from Tariah Carter. Freshman Joelle Kelly added 13 kills, Ella Stosich chipped in 19 digs and Ellie Johnson tallied 43 assists in the championship match.
All the lineup changes led to a 3-5 start to the season. But Melba coach Curtis Johnson pointed to a tournament in Sisters, Oregon, as the turning point, and the Mustangs closed the year on a 13-match winning streak.
“It was almost like we flew under the radar,” Melba coach Curtis Johnson said. “Usually as state champs, they put a target on you. They thought we lost seven kids, so they’ll fade away. And that’s not the case.”
1ADII: HORSESHOE BEND THREE-PEATS
The Mustangs (28-1) continued to dominate 1A Division II competition, rolling to their third straight championship without dropping a single set in the tournament at Lewiston High.
Horseshoe Bend swept Long Pin rival Council in the semifinals (25-8, 25-10, 25-14) and then again in the finals (25-15, 25-11, 25-16).
The Mustangs field a veteran squad that includes six seniors and two juniors that were a part of all three championships.
“These girls have worked incredibly hard and have played together since obviously their freshman year,” Horseshoe Bend coach Sharsti Moore said. “They’ve conquered 1A Division II, 1A Division I and 2A. Even in the summer, they’ve gone up and defeated 3A, 4A and 5A schools. Volleyball is what they eat, sleep and breathe.”
Senior Annelie Wilson posted 20 kills and 20 digs in the championship match. Aliyah Meyer added four kills, 12 digs and 35 assists, and Abby Howerton had six kills and 10 digs.
The three-peat is the first for Horseshoe Bend in any sport, and it marks the Mustangs’ fifth title in the past seven years. Their lone loss this season came in a tournament to Crane Union (29-2), the top-ranked 1A team in Oregon.
This story was originally published October 28, 2023 at 10:13 PM.
