Coaches have come and go just like at other schools over the history of Skyline High School, which opened in 1962.
Except in volleyball. The door hardly has revolved since 1980 as only two coaches have led the program.
Mondo Begay, who took over this season, makes three.
And Skyline quickly is putting itself back to its accustomed spot at the top of the region standings.
The visiting Eagles finished the first half of the Region 6 schedule unbeaten by beating the Panthers 25-19, 25-20, 25-16 in a trip Tuesday to upstart West High.
SKYLINE 3, WEST 0 <br>• Skyline finishes the first half of Region 6 play unbeaten with the sweep. <br>• West, which also entered the match unbeaten in league contests, dropps its first best-of-five match of the season. <br>• Senior Kiana Crawford has nine kills to lead all players, while Skyline teammate Cameron Mooney scores eight winners. Dana Manu leads the Panthers with eight kills.
“I feel like we’ve been doing really well,” said Eagles senior outside hitter Kiana Crawford, who had a game-high nine kills. “We’ve had to adjust to a new coach, but we really like him, like the things he’s been teaching us. I think it’s really improved out team.”
When Jami Hutchins took an administrative job at Taylorsville High, he left the Skyline coaching position he had held since 2001. Joan Burdett coached the Eagles for 20 years before him.
“I’m only the third coach, and let me tell you, the weight is overwhelming,” Begay said. “It is beyond crazy and beyond stressful.”
Skyline (6-2, 5-0) made the coach’s life a little bit easier against West (7-1, 4-1) and handed the Panthers their first loss in a best-of-five set match.
The Eagles led 21-19 in the first set before reeling off four straight points to finish it. A kill from Cameron Mooney, who had eight for Skyline, finished the stretch that included four hitting errors by the Panthers.
West led 19-17 in the second set when the Eagles registered an 8-1 run. Crawford had three kills for the visitors during that run.
The Panthers, who were led by Dana Manu’s eight kills, trailed 13-12 in the third before Skyline reeled off 12 of the next 16 points to clinch the match.
As was the case in every set, a slew of hitting miscues by West aided the Eagles’ cause.
“We had a negative number at every position except for one,” said Panthers coach Kim Norman, who is in her second year at the school after previous successful stints at Westminster College and Highland High.
