High school girls volleyball: Canyon View wins first 3A championship in its 27-year history

For the first time in school history, Canyon View can call itself a girls volleyball state champion.
The No. 1 ranked Falcons defeated No. 6 Richfield in four sets Saturday — 25-17, 16-25, 25-23 and 25-19 — to claim the 3A title.
Not only is this the first ever state title for the Canyon View girls volleyball program, it was also the first time in the school’s 27-year history it had even been to the semifinals.
In the years prior, Canyon View always found itself toward the bottom of its region’s standings, but this year was completely different, and head coach Lynette Whittaker attributes the success to the hard work and mentality her team possessed all year long.
“I am absolutely thrilled for these girls and they were rewarded for all of their personal work,” Whittaker said. “They bought in and it was just about family and our mentality in the moment.
“They played great and really shined tonight. I tell all these girls one game at a time, so one point at a time. We just try to keep it simple and go to work. I can’t wait to see what these girls do next year.”
Canyon View could not have asked for a better start Saturday, getting out to an emphatic 13-3 lead in the first set. Richfield was eventually able to settle into the game, but the start proved too big of a mountain to climb, and Canyon View took the opening set.
As the second set went on, it was almost an exact reversal of what had transpired in the first set, as Richfield grabbed hold of some momentum and suddenly found itself with a 16-5 lead and ultimately claimed the set.
With never having experienced a match of this magnitude and significance, it could have been very easy for Canyon View to let the nerves get the best of them and falter under the bright lights.
Whittaker, however, had complete faith in her team, and the mentality aspect of the game has been a main focal point the last several weeks for her squad.
“The last two weeks, all we worked on was their mental game. We did our regular practice and then we worked on keying yourself to opposition. I am surrounded by incredible and talented people, and they just were able to pull through for me,” said Whittaker.
Whittaker also believes that one main contributing factor to the teams improbable turnaround has been that the group has learned to move on to the next point when mistakes occur.
“I think we’re really gritty and we have learned that these last two years,” Whittaker said. “I always tell them to have the next ball mentality. You learn to just let the mistakes go and put you put all out on the court for that next point.”