4A high school volleyball championship: Warriors top Flyers again to collar 4A title

OREM — Maybe it's time for these two teams to make their reservations for the final next year already as it seems it's deja vu all over again for the two high school volleyball teams from Southern Utah.

For the fourth year in a row Snow Canyon and Dixie met in the state volleyball championship game, the last three years in 4A and the year prior in 3A. And for the fourth year in a row, Snow Canyon defeated its Region 9 rivals. The scoring went 25-17, 25-21 and 25-19 for the state title.

It's getting a little old hat for the Warriors, and it's getting a little old for Dixie.

"It's exciting every year. Even though we have a new group this year, not much has changed in the gym. We went into the matched focused on playing our game," said junior Taylor Murphey, who is hoping to finish out her career next year with yet another title. She had 12 kills and 17 digs in the final match.

Even the freshmen came in this year expecting to get to this stage because of what they've been watching year after year.

"It's always good to win state. We work together as a team, and the older players show you the ropes. It's always our ultimate goal, but we just try to get one game at a time. We weren't thinking championship when we came into this," said freshman McKenzie Willey, who noted that her team plays every game with a big target on its back. Willey finished with 10 kills and 18 digs in the match against Dixie.

The Warriors and Flyers had already played twice in Region 9 action earlier this year, and Snow Canyon came away with all three victories.

"Snow Canyon just has three or four pearls to put the ball away," said Dixie coach Stacy Leavitt, who noted how tough her rivals were all season long.

But she was still proud of making it all the way through the season and the tournament and grabbing a second place trophy at the end of it all.

The Flyers put up a balanced effort throughout the match against the Warriors with Jennika Wright and Ivory Boone each finishing with five kills, and Ashley Porter and Riley Hutchings each finishing with four. Jaimee Clark added 22 assists in the match from the setter position.

"I'm proud of them. These kids have dealt with a lot of personal issues, and they could have folded at the beginning of the season. I think it's remarkable that we got here. I didn't know if we'd make it this far, but then all of a sudden we just came together," added Leavitt.