Spikes, tips and chips from state volleyball

Leyah de Souza enjoyed her return home to North Idaho this weekend.

The junior outside/right side hitter helped Skyview High of Nampa to a runner-up finish at the state 5A volleyball tournament Saturday at Post Falls High.

“It’s like deja vu; I love it so much,” she said. “It’s been real fun; I get to see my old friends ... ”

Two years ago, Leyah was part of a rebuilding program at Lakeland High.

Then her father Adriano, who owned a restaurant in Coeur d’Alene, opened a sandwich-type restaurant in Nampa, and moved the family down there. Adriano was also Lakeland’s volleyball coach in 2016 and ’17.

Leyah ended up at Skyview, where she was a starter last year and this year.

The 5-foot-10 de Souza had 11 kills in the Hawks’ five-set victory over Lake City in the fourth-place match Saturday morning.

She adds “a lot of physicality for us,” Skyview coach Kevin Murphy said. “She’s a big, strong athlete. Brings a big swing, what we need. We’re not a very physical team as a whole, but having Leyah gives us something that we need to compete against teams that have a lot of physical players.”

The de Souzas lived in North Idaho for 10 years; the restaurant in Cd’A closed after eight years.

Leyah wasn’t able to watch her old team play this weekend. Lakeland, which made it to state this year for the first time since 2005, finished fourth in the 4A tournament at Coeur d’Alene High.

“I keep track of things up here,” Leyah said, noting her best friend is Daphne Carroll, a junior outside hitter for Lakeland.

She said she was “really sad” she wasn’t able to see her old team play, but noted, “I heard they did well ... I’m very impressed with them.”

FAMILY TRUMPED the Vandals for Ryan Phillips this weekend.

Ryan, a former Idaho and NFL player who played in Super Bowl XXXV with the New York Giants against the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, had a good reason for needing a replacement as analyst on the radio broadcast of the Idaho Vandals’ football game on Saturday.

He took the weekend off so he could watch twin daughters, Lauren and Kate, play for Coeur d’Alene High at the state 5A volleyball tournament at Post Falls High.

Patrick Libey, a former Vandal player and assistant coach, pinch-hit for Phillips on the air, teaming with play-by-play man Dennis Patchin for Idaho’s 21-9 win over Cal Poly at the Kibbie Dome.

“It means so much,” Lauren said. “My parents (Ryan and Angie) are such a big support to me; they’re always there for me. They have just put in so much time and effort into supporting me.”

Last year, Coeur d’Alene won a play-in match to advance to state for the first time in three seasons. Ryan Phillips was able to watch the first day of play Friday at Ridgevue High in Nampa. But, because he wasn’t expecting the Vikings to be at state, he hadn’t make provisions for a replacement analyst, so Ryan flew home Saturday morning and was the air for Idaho’s game that afternoon in Cheney vs. Eastern Washington.

This year, with a trip to state more of a possibility for the Vikings, he planned ahead.

“At the beginning of the season I told Patchin we needed to find a sub, because it looked like the girls were going to do pretty well,” Ryan said. “You don’t get to do this very often.”

Next year’s state 5A volleyball tournament is scheduled for Skyline High in Idaho Falls.

Next year’s Vandals schedule has yet to be announced.

But there’s a good bet Ryan might need a sub that weekend as well.

NORTH IDAHO gets to host state volleyball every two years, so the tourneys will be back up here again in 2021.

It’s been that way since 1993.

“I love coming up here; I really do,” said Murphy, who is in his 26th season at Skyview, the last 23 as head coach. “I think the facilities are great. I think they do a great job running stuff; they make it important, and they do it right. And it’s beautiful up here; just gorgeous up here.”

Normally, in the odd years the tourneys are not in North Idaho, they rotate between the Twin Falls area and the Idaho Falls area.

Last year, they were in the Boise area for the first time since 1991.

Murphy said he doesn’t mind traveling for state — the Hawks are used to it after all these years. But ...

“It was nice to play at home for once, I won’t lie,” he said. “In 23 years, to get it home once was nice.”

If or when state returns to the Boise area is unknown. A peek at the Idaho High School Activities Association’s five-year calendar shows state volleyball in North Idaho in 2021 and ’23. In ’22, the 5A tourney is in Idaho Falls, but the other five tourneys are in the Twin Falls area. The 2024 state tourneys are tentatively scheduled for District 5 and 6 (eastern Idaho).

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.