The top two seeds in both the 6A and 5A volleyball state tournaments took care of business in their respective semifinals on Saturday afternoon, setting the stage for two very intriguing state championship games later today.
The 5A state championship gets underway at 4 p.m. and will feature No. 1 seed Maple Mountain and No. 2 seed Bountiful. In the 6A title game, No. 1 seed Skyridge will face No. 2 seed Lone Peak at 6:30 p.m.
Maple Mountain advanced to the championship by dominating No. 4 seed Woods Cross in the semifinals, 25-8, 25-6, 25-21. The Golden Eagles haven’t dropped a set in any of the school’s state tournament wins. It’s seeking its first state championship in school history.
Bountiful, meanwhile, is trying to get back to the top of 5A after winning the state championship in 2021. The Redhawks had to battle in all three sets against surprise semifinalist Alta, but they eventually pulled away from the No. 14 seed Hawks in all three sets, 25-22, 25-21, 25-18.
Saturday’s 5A championship game will be the first meeting between Bountiful and Maple Mountain this season.
Both programs lost their semifinal games a year ago, with Bountiful prevailing in the 5A third-place game 3-2.
While relative unknowns meet in the 5A championship, two programs very familiar with each other will square off in the 6A final. Skyridge and Lone Peak split the season series this year, with Lone Peak sweeping the first meeting and Skyridge winning the second match-up in four sets.
Lone Peak was sharp from the get go against No. 3 seed Bingham and won relatively comfortably, 25-17, 25-20, 25-9.
Skyridge beat No. 5 seed Corner Canyon, 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 27-25.
Lone Peak has won the past three 6A state championships and 11 in program history, and it’s now trying to put another banner in the rafters. Skyridge’s only state title came back in 2018 when it won the 5A championship.