High school girls volleyball: Skyline ends 22-year drought with sweep over Bountiful in 5A state championship

Skyline head coach Mondo Begay was emotional after the Eagles defeated top-seeded Bountiful in Friday’s 5A championship match. It is the first championship for the eighth-year head coach, and the first for Skyline since 2002.

“I’ve been coaching for a long time and I’m really emotional because these kids have worked really hard,” Begay said. “We did 6:00 a.m. practices, we busted our butts. We’re really deep, and we’re excited for the future and what we’re going to do.”

Skyline knew it was going to have its hands full going up against Bountiful and Taylor Harvey, as Harvey is a Texas commit and member of the U21 Women’s National Team who helped the United States win a gold medal over Puerto Rico at the Norceca (North, Central America and Caribbean) Continental championship this summer in Canada.

Begay knew Bountiful would put up a strong block, so his team had smart tips and well-placed balls to get an edge over the Redhawks.

“We had to figure out how to slow the best girls volleyball player in the state of Utah in Taylor Harvey,” said Begay. “We had to understand that we had to get her out of system.

“We knew she was gonna get her kills, but we had to slow everybody else down. I think our serving, our passing and our our ball control did that.”

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Skyline was hot offensively from the start, with Isa Taylor quickly racking up eight kills in the first set as the Eagles rolled Bountiful 25-15. Taylor kept the pressure on the Bountiful defense throughout and ended with a team high 19 kills

“I think we did really good keeping our side controlled, controlling what we could control,” Taylor said. “We just kind of played our game. We didn’t care if it was the championship match or first match of the tournament, we played (with) the same intensity.”

Skyline didn’t let up in the second set. Nua Alofipo helped Taylor in the scoring effort with five kills and ended with 17. Many of Alofipo’s scores didn’t come from hard hits, but instead smartly placed tips just over the Bountiful block.

“Honestly I was more focused IQ-wise, just making shots, scoring points and doing my job,” Alofipo said. “I thought our setter ran a great offense by giving us one-on-ones where it’s easier to score.”

Every time Bountiful attempted a run or made an adjustment, Skyline was right there to find another way to stay ahead. Alofipo tallied seven kills in the third set with Skyline taking it 25-18.

It was a well-rounded win for Skyline. Whether it was serving, serve receive, hitting or blocking, the Eagles were nearly always just a step ahead of the Redhawks.

Despite winning its first championship in 22 years, Skyline is a young team and will graduate only three seniors. Begay said he’s excited for the future of this program and credited his coaching staff for the success.

“I want to thank my coaches, Lance (Sorenson), Adison (Neely) and Celeste (Molisi),” he said. “Those the coaches have put in hard work. I’m lost for words.”