Idaho volleyball state championship roundup: Madison caps dominating year by finally getting hands back on Class 5A title

The senior class of Kinley Kerbs, Emma Heywood, Addie Grover, Maddi Wilcox, Mariah Wilson and Charli Cook had won every trophy ... but the one that really counts heading into this season.

They can now breathe a collective sigh of relief as the Madison volleyball team is back on top once again. The Bobcats made quick work of Timberline 25-5, 25-21, 25-19 in the Class 5A state championship game Saturday at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls for their fifth title overall.

“It’s definitely been a goal for these girls, these seniors especially. They completed the set,” Madison volleyball coach Meranda Maestas said with a grin. “They’ve been really, really wanting to finally get this championship. I think with every trip to state and every time we didn’t bring home that first place (trophy), they got a little bit more hungry for it.”

Since ending a 26-year drought in 2018, Madison (35-4) took home the third-place, consolation and runner-up trophies in each of the next corresponding seasons. So the blue plaque was the only one left.

The Bobcats left little doubt, too. They didn’t lose to an Idaho team this season and the only ones to push them to a fifth set was Highland back on Sept. 20. Madison had only dropped six sets overall coming into state.

“Sometimes when we would start to struggle a little bit or we would drop a set, it was like, ‘No, why is this happening,” Maestas said with a laugh. “But then it was like, ‘No, it’s ok. We haven’t lost a game.’”

It didn’t change all that much at state.

Madison did drop a set to Post Falls to start the day Saturday, but then proceeded to win the next six sets to get its hand on the long-awaited hardware. It’s the seventh consecutive season that the Bobcats have left with a state trophy of some kind.

“Some of the freshmen we brought with us to state said, ‘We want to get to state the next three years.’ And I was like, ‘No, getting to state is the expectation, the goal is winning it the next three years,’” Maestas said. “Obviously, that’s a very lofty goal, but I think we’ve just had such great kids. They’ve set the standards high and it just makes the younger kids hungry.”

Wilson hit .390 and bagged 45 kills for the state run. Heywood tallied 34 kills and Kerbs finished with 165 assists, 15 aces and six blocks.

CLASS 4A

SKYVIEW 3, COLUMBIA 1: It finally donned on Kevin Murphy right as he got back to the hotel room.

The Skyview volleyball head coach’s team had just played in their eighth consecutive state final. And better yet, he found himself hoisting up another trophy.

The Hawks upended 4A Southern Idaho Conference rival, Columbia, 25-17, 21-25, 25-17, 25-11 to become just the fifth Class 5A or 4A team to three-peat, and collected their fifth championship in seven years in the process.

“You really enjoy them all,” Murphy said. “All of them are special because they are with different kids and (under) different circumstances. It’s never the exact same group or the exact same way.”

Skyview (24-6) dropped back down to 4A this season after winning back-to-back 5A titles. The move was kind of fitting as 4A is where the dynasty began. Since playing in that first final back in 2015, the Hawks won championships in each of the next two seasons before the move up to 5A in 2018. They still made the finals, but it wasn’t until 2020 before a banner was brought home in Idaho’s highest classification.

Skyview hasn’t lost to a team from Idaho since the 2019 state final. That’s a current run of 55 matches in a row. It has also only dropped 10 sets total during that time. The Hawks have won 12 consecutive titles and 113 matches within their own district.

“We’ve just been really fortunate to have really good kids,” Murphy said. “You can’t do what we’re doing without kids. We’ve had so many families with volleyball kids. I feel like I say this every year, I’ve got four or five kids on this team, whose older sister played for us. So we’ve been lucky to have those familial traditions.”

But Murphy doesn’t like to get caught up in all the numbers either.

“I’m not into how many sets in a row or games in a row, I just want to win,” Murphy said.

One of those lost sets came Saturday. Columbia handed Skyview its first set loss to an Idaho team since last year’s state final against Madison in the second set. However, Murphy wasn’t worried.

“I really didn’t feel any change. I don’t even think our kids blinked,” Murphy said. “If we could serve, serve-receive and just play with a lot of energy, we thought it would be a big task for someone to score 25 on us six times this weekend.”

The duo of junior Alex Acevedo and freshman Ballamie Beus led the way on offense with 26 kills apiece. Acevedo, a University of Oregon commit, added three blocks. BYU commit Alex Bower added 51 assists, 14 digs and six kills

CLASS 3A

KIMBERLY 3, FRUITLAND 0: After getting third last season and runner-up the year before, the Bulldogs finally broke through.

They took the broom to the Grizzlies, 25-17, 25-18, 25-16 for the first state title in program history.

“Super excited for this group to be able to make history,” Kimberly coach Melissa Edwards said. “They have been to the tournament and tasted it, but couldn’t enjoy it completely. We started this summer working hard, setting smaller goals that would lead us back. They succeeded in accomplishing their big and final goal to take the championship.”

For the tournament, senior Eliza Anderson posted 46 kills, 53 digs and nine aces. Senior Kelsy Stranger chipped in with 50 kills and 13 blocks, sophomore Mallory Kelsey had 59 kills, 37 digs and eight aces, senior Jessie Perron netted 77 digs and Kadrian Klinger rounded it out with 194 assists.

Kimberly only dropped nine sets all season, while going unbeaten against 3A competition and in non-tournament play. 

CLASS 2A

MELBA 3, WEST SIDE 1: Curtis Johnson had already won a pair of state titles with Nampa Christian.

But the Melba head coach was just as if not more excited this time around. His group completed a perfect 21-0 season by downing two-time defending champion West Side 25-23, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19 in a rematch of last year’s final for the first state title in program history.

“They’re all different,” Johnson said. “Nampa Christian had a rich tradition of volleyball before I got there. I just got to jump in on it and join it. But Melba hadn’t had that. These girls made a lot of history this year out there in Melba. So it’s pretty special.

The Mustangs didn’t drop a single set in league play - not even Johnson’s championship teams at Nampa Christian (2016-17) did that. They weren’t even pushed to a fifth set until state.

Melba did trail 2-1 to Malad and Ririe, but rallied back both times.

“That was the thing about going through the season unscathed, I was nervous because what are we going to do when we get pressure?,” Johnson said. “But it was awesome to see our girls just get some grit and just respond the right way and get it done when it mattered most.”

Senior, back-to-back 2A Western Idaho Conference Player of the Year and College of Idaho commit, Keylee Wilson recorded 24 kills, 14 digs and three aces. Junior Ella Stosich had 25 digs, freshman Ellie Johnson - Curtis’ daughter - notched 45 assists and senior Kendall Clark, who missed all of last season with a torn meniscus, added 13 kills, 13 digs and an ace.

“She couldn’t play last year. But she was on the bench, helping coach, and taking stats. She was still a huge member of our team,” Curtis Johnson said. “So probably the greatest thing was watching her really enjoy herself out.”

CLASS 1A (D1)

TROY 3, GENESEE 0: The Trojans might need a new trophy case.

They went back-to-back with a sweep over Genesee 25-20, 27-25, 25-23 for their fifth title in the last seven years and 14th overall.

Troy finished 22-1 with its only loss coming to the 1A Division II champion, Horseshoe Bend, all the way back on Sept. 10.

CLASS 1A (D2)

HORSESHOE BEND 3, ROCKLAND 0: The Mustangs’ stranglehold over the Class 1A ranks continued Saturday night.

They breezed past Rockland 25-20, 25-20, 25-12 to repeat and win their fourth title over the last six years.

Horseshoe Bend (22-1), which didn’t have a single senior on the roster this season, has now won 36 consecutive matches against opponents in the 1A level. Its only blemish over the last two seasons was to 2A champion Melba on Sept.1