There’s no easy road to the state championship. Even as the No. 1 seed heading into the 4A state tournament, Sky View had to overcome a tenacious Snow Canyon team in the state championship at the Sevier Valley Center.
The Bobcats were able to pull it off, winning 3-1 against Snow Canyon Wednesday evening in Richfield.
“It was true guts and heart. It’s what they’ve fought for all year. You want the state championship to be a fun match, and that was a fun match.” — Sky View coach Sheila Sorensen
“It was true guts and heart,” said coach Sheila Sorensen. “It’s what they’ve fought for all year. You want the state championship to be a fun match, and that was a fun match.”
The Bobcats lost the first set 25-21 as No. 6 seed Snow Canyon came out strong in its bid for the state title.
The team’s togetherness and calm composure was key as the match moved into the second set, according to Sorensen.
In the second set Sky View’s Melanie Hiatt, a sophomore, pounded down a couple of shots during an early 8-point run by the Bobcats.
Sky View was able to stay ahead through the balance of the set, winning 25-20.
As the third game started, the Warriors scored the first two points, thanks in part to senior Katie Langford.
Snow Canyon led through most of the set, going up 24-22 toward the end. That’s when Sky View pulled out a four-point jaunt to seize the win.
“When you have five attackers like we do, you can’t stop them all,” Sorensen said.
The fourth set saw the teams trading the lead back and fourth right up until the end. At one point Snow Canyon led 21-16, but the Bobcats worked their way back into it.
“I just wanted them to bust their butts and get that fourth set,” Sorensen said.
The final set ended 29-27, with Sky View ahead.
Sorensen said she’ll miss her core group of seniors.
“Hayley McUne, it’s a competitive spirit that she’s brought to our team,” Sorensen said. “She hit .419, they couldn’t stop her.”
McUne ended the night with 24 kills. Kaitlin Smart contributed 19 kills to the victory.
“Smart is amazing,” Sorensen said. “She just loves the game. She’ll do whatever and keep smiling.”
The team’s success was the result of a lot of sweat and gym time according to McUne.
“We worked really hard for it,” McUne said. “There was not just one person who made this happen. Someone would mess up and we’d say, ‘it’s just one mess up, w all mess up.’ We knew our team had our back.
“I kind of just pretended it was another game,” Smart said. “I had full confidence in my team. We just had to believe, we’d been down further and knew we could do it.”