High school girls volleyball: Northridge, Bountiful, Woods Cross, Skyline advance to 5A semifinals

No. 5 Northridge is headed to the 5A semifinal after a 3-1 victory over No. 4 Salem Hills in the 5A quarterfinals Thursday. Knights sophomore Lia Brown led the offense iwth 19 kills and three aces and was followed by Elise Williams’ 13 kills.
“I knew that if we were going to play together as a team and as a unit, that we had a very good chance of getting to where we are,” said Northridge head coach Hailey Kissner. “We just played a clean game, so I’m super proud of them.”
Northridge’s defense was held up by Miranda Brown and Karlee Mayfield, who each recorded 22 digs, while middle blocker Elena Ady tallied five blocks.
Setter Sophie Smith kept the offense together with 41 assists.
Northridge advances to the 5A semifinal where it will face top-seeded Bountiful. The Knights have lost twice to the Redhawks this season, each one in a 3-0 sweep.
“The last time we played them we got closer and the scores were a lot tighter,” said Kissner. “We were up for the majority of the first and the third set, so I think we know what it takes and we know that we have what it takes if we play like we did in this last game.”
Top-seeded Bountiful finished off a clean Day 1 with a 3-0 sweep over No. 8 Timpview. The Redhawks advance to Day 2 of the state tournament with the 25-18, 25-20, 25-21 win.
Bountiful star Taylor Harvey once again led the Redhawks with 17 kills in the quarterfinal. Harvey was closely followed by Milika Satuala with 16. Harvey also had 22 kills in the second round against Wasatch, and thus has totaled 39 kills in six sets.
“She’s incredible,” said Bountiful head coach Kelsie White. “She elevates the gym, she raises it to such a high level every time. I say this all the time, but she’s an amazing volleyball player, but she’s an even more amazing person.”
The first day of the state tournament went as expected for the 2023 5A runner-up, but its Day 2 will make or break its championship hopes. Last year the Redhawks lost 3-1 in the 5A title game to Maple Mountain, and in 2022 they were upset 3-2 in the semifinals by Timpview.
“I think the girls are so hungry and it’s really hard to be so close like we were last year and then not quite get there,” said White. “But these girls know that they’re capable and they know that it’s their year. They have a little chip on their shoulder and have used it to their advantage, so I’m excited to see what happens.”
No. 3 Woods Cross had a strong Day 1 of the 5A state tournament, finishing with a 3-0 sweep of the defending 5A champion Maple Mountain. The Wildcats won 25-11, 25-22, 25-18.
Woods Cross outside hitter Avery Poulton led the offense with 19 kills on a .516 hitting percentage. Brylee Howard also tallied 10 kills and Alisi Tapa’atoutai added eight.
Wildcats sophomore setter Zamari Christensen kept the offense together with 35 assists. The Wildcats’ defense in the quarterfinal was shored up by Adia Cook’s 15 digs.
“We played Maple Mountain in preseason this year and we went to four sets with them and we came out with the win,” said Woods Cross head coach Josey Hilton. “We were watching them before the match and thinking they’d really improved since we had played them, so we really had to up our game, really focus on service receive, have aggressive serves and the girls really played well.
“I think we had a little chip on our shoulder because we lost to them in the semis last year, so we wanted to show that we’re here and and we got something to prove.”
While advancing to the semifinals isn’t anything new for Woods Cross, winning the semifinal is another story. The Wildcats have not won a state championship since 1979. The last time they advanced to the state title game was 1994.
Hilton is confident in her team’s ability to end that 30-year drought.
“I’m not going to discount who’s playing and who we will meet, but we’ve done our homework on a couple of those teams that we feel like we’re going to meet in the semifinals and we really just have to be on our A-game,” Hilton said. “We have to limit our errors, (have) aggressive serves, our passing has got to be on and we just have to be aggressive from the get-go on on our hitting.”
No. 2 Skyline made quick work of No. 7 Brighton as it cruised to a 3-0 victory in the 5A quarterfinals. Nua Alofipo led the Eagles in kills with 18 while Bailey Rosander also tallied five kills.
Isa Taylor served strong with six aces in the win and libero Maya Grant had 12 digs and three aces.
“They stayed mentally tough all day,” said Skyline assistant coach Lance Sorenson. “It’s a long day and we were here late, so we get into these tighter games and they really put their heads in it. We passed well, served well and finished strong.”
Despite the back-to-back dominant 25-13 first and second set wins, the Eagles found themselves down late in the third. Skyline wanted to avoid going extra sets at all costs to try to stay fresh for its Day 2 of the state tournament.
It rallied late and took the third set 25-21 to secure a semifinal spot.
“One thing we talked about all year is fighting through adversity,” Sorenson said. “We talked about if we go down three to five points, how are we going to react? Are we going to collapse or are we going to fight through? Tonight they fought back, just one or two points at a time.”
The Timpview Thunderbirds defeated the Clearfield Falcons 3-1, fueled by a standout performance from Livia Eyre, who contributed 23 kills. Timpview took control early by claiming the first two sets, edging out Clearfield 25-21 and 25-22. The Falcons fought back with a 25-18 victory in the third set, but Timpview closed out the match with a dominant 25-17 win in the fourth set.
Salem Hills dominated West Jordan in a straight-set victory, 3-0, in the 5A second round. Ella Robbins and Skye Sampson led the SkyHawks with 10 and 11 kills, respectively, while Dax Gammell anchored the defense with 22 digs. The SkyHawks took control early, winning the first set 25-15 and maintained their momentum by securing the next two sets 25-18 and 25-13.
Northridge’s Lia Brown led the charge with 14 kills and four blocks as the Knights defeated Springville 3-1. After dropping the second set 25-21, Northridge rallied to take the third (25-18) and fourth sets (25-17) to secure the victory. Karlee Mayfield contributed with nine kills, while Miranda Brown’s solid defense added 26 digs.
Taylor Harvey led the Bountiful Redhawks to a commanding 3-0 victory over the Wasatch Wasps, recording an impressive 22 kills and four aces. The Redhawks dominated from the start, taking each set decisively, with scores of 25-6, 25-19, and 25-15. Adelaide Stevenson added four aces, while Milika Satuala contributed 10 kills to solidify the win.
Skyline dominated Bonneville in a straight-set victory in the 5A second round, securing a 3-0 win (25-14, 25-10, 25-8) on Thursday. Grace Fredrick orchestrated the Eagles’ offense with an impressive 37 assists. Nua Alofipo led the attack with 12 kills, while Isa Taylor contributed with six aces. Bailey Rosander added nine kills, as Skyline showcased their dominance with overpowering performances both at the net and from the service line.
Woods Cross dominated Alta in straight sets, winning 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 to advance to the 5A quarterfinals. Avery Poulton led the Wildcats with an impressive 17 kills, hitting .452, while teammate Akanesi Pututau contributed with a .667 hitting percentage. Setter Zamari Christensen was pivotal with 35 assists and added three kills with smart setter dumps. Adia Cook anchored the defense with nine digs, as the Wildcats maintained control throughout the match against the Hawks.
Maple Mountain swept Box Elder in a dominant 3-0 victory, with set scores of 25-17, 25-16, and 25-9. Hailey Clark led the Golden Eagles with eight kills, hitting a .333, while Tenley Smithson contributed seven kills. Box Elder struggled with its serve receive throughout the match, allowing Maple Mountain to consistently disrupt their system.
Brighton’s secured a narrow 3-2 victory over Spanish Fork in the 5A second round, clinching the fifth set 18-16. Brooklyn Easton and Marissa Faamatogi led the Bengals with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Avery Marshall provided 32 assists and contributed defensively with 16 digs. After taking an early 2-0 lead, Brighton stumbled in the next two sets but ultimately rallied in the final to edge out the Dons.