High school boys volleyball: Friday’s 4A Day 1 recap, Mountain View, Crimson Cliffs, Pine View and Ridgeline advance to semis

Ridgeline celebrates after eliminating Sky View in the quarterfinals of the boys 4A state volleyball tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 8, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News 4A quarterfinals Desert Hills 3, Pine View 1 Friday’s quarterfinal win over Pine View was an emotional one for No. 3 Desert Hills.

Playing against a team with club teammates is often an inevitability in state tournaments, but doing so while stifling a comeback made it extra emotional for the Thunder. “They’re from our region, and they’re a great team,” said Desert Hills coach Josh James. “We’ve had a lot of close games with them.

I coach club for a lot of boys on that team and this team, so there’s a lot of emotion behind it that way. ” At the outset Friday, it was going Desert Hills’ way. The Thunder survived the first set 27-25 and then took the second more convincingly 25-16.

Then, Pine View rallied. The Panthers took the third set 25-21 and then earned a 22-16 lead in the fourth. Desert Hills knew all too well that it wanted to avoid a fifth set at all possible, and that it did.