High school girls volleyball: Woods Cross continues to prove a powerhouse in gutsy win over defending champion Skyline

Few teams can match the amount of talent Woods Cross puts on the volleyball court. It has one of the best players in the state in Kansas commit Avery Poulton, and the Wildcats have three more Division I-level players with Oklahoma commit Sitoafa Tausinga, Saint Mary’s commit Zamari Christensen and Air Force commit Alisi Tapaatoutai.

Despite its talent, Woods Cross found itself in a 1-1 set tie and down 17-12 in the third against Skyline on Thursday. To make matters worse, the Wildcats had just been assessed a yellow card due to their rowdy student section.

Skyline was charging and had Woods Cross on its back foot, but the Wildcats used the time after the yellow card to reset and fight back for a 3-1 victory over the Eagles.

“I was out of timeouts because I called both my timeouts really early,” first year Woods Cross head coach Nicole Hogan said. “While I didn’t like that (the rowdy crowd behavior) went on, I told my girls, ‘This benefits us. They’re the ones that had the momentum. We’ve got to relish this.’

“I think it gave them a chance to kind of get their minds right, take a breather, reset, and then from there it was just a whole new ball game and it just incited our crowd.”

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Woods Cross has been a force all season with a near perfect 13-1 record, only losing to arguably Utah’s top team in Skyridge in five sets 12 days ago. Meanwhile, defending 5A champion Skyline has also been lauded as one of 5A’s top teams.

The duo of Poulton and Tausinga is one that teams will have to find a way to slow down, which won’t be easy. Woods Cross runs a rotation wherein one of Poulton or Tausinga is always on the net, and both have hitting capabilities that can take over games.

Tausinga lifted Woods Cross in the first set with eight kills and then lit up the stat sheet in the third set with nine more (she finished with 20). Meanwhile, Poulton proved why she’s one of the state’s best as she finished with a team-high 22 kills on a .489 hitting percentage.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever had the privilege of having two pins of that magnitude,” Hogan said. “In tough situations, we’re able to put the ball up high and they can bail us out time after time. But not only are they amazing athletes, they’re amazing teammates.”

While Woods Cross showed off its usual offensive pressure, Skyline didn’t crack. After dropping the first set 25-21, the Eagles fought back to win the second set 27-25. Skyline senior Isa Taylor was the steadying force as she kept her team alive with seven kills in the set.

The momentum stayed with Skyline, and kills from Taylor and Bailey Bennett allowed the Eagles to take the 17-12 lead.

But after the yellow card, Woods Cross reset and rallied back to a 24-21 lead. While Tausinga and Poulton kept up thier pressure, it was Tapaatoutai who had a sequence of kills and well-placed tips that helped Woods Cross get back into the set.

Tapaatoutai had an efficient 13 kills with a .579 hitting percentage.

“Her range and her ability to see where the block is coming from is unreal,” Hogan said. “We can tell her what’s open and she finds it. Her and (Christensen’s) connection is so great because they’ve played together for so long. They’re just locked in all the time.”

Skyline continued to show its resilience as it crawled back to tie it 24-24. Woods Cross kept taking a one-point lead, but the Eagles matched. In total, Skyline survived seven set points from the Wildcats before Poulton came to the rescue with back-to-back kills for the 28-26 third set win.

“I just wanted to end it, honestly,” Poulton said. “It was super tight and I just wanted to go for it. It’s just so fun to play in those moments and just have the opportunity. I’m just so grateful to be able to play and experience that.”

Skyline had the resilience to shake up Woods Cross, but once the Wildcats regained their confidence it was over.

Poulton tallied six kills in the fourth set, Tapaatoutai added four and Woods Cross won the fourth set convincingly 25-16 and sealed the match 3-1.

Woods Cross is on a 46-year quest to win another state championship, with its last one being in 1979. The Wildcats came close last year but were barred from the championship game by none other than Skyline.

Hogan knows her team has the capability of ending the drought, but she is making sure to take it a day at a time.

“You never know, one game to the next, if an injury is going to happen and then it’s next man up,” Hogan said. “From Day 1, that has been the mantra.

“While we have some good athleticism, we still have to understand that whether it’s the core on the six or on the bench, it’s next man up regardless of what happens, and that’s what’s got to get us there. We’re just one game at a time and the rest will handle itself.”