In the chaos that is the state girls volleyball tournament, the best mental approach is to block out the noise.

Not an easy task with four matches taking place at the same time but that’s the path Maple Mountain, the No. 1 seed in 5A, is taking for a shot at the school’s first girls volleyball state title.

The Golden Eagles swept No. 17 Cedar Valley (25-14, 25-12, 25-22) and No. 9 Viewmont (25-13, 25-9, 25-17) at the UCCU Center on Thursday to advance to the semifinals for the second straight season.

“Every now and then we start to talk about the other team and then we just remind ourselves to focus on us,” Maple Mountain coach Adam Longmore said. “I told the kids that seeds don’t matter, records don’t matter, nothing matters. The only thing that matters is the ability to play high level, consistent volleyball and the way for teams to do that at the end of the year is to play a tough schedule during the season.”

The Golden Eagles went undefeated in Region 7 (12-0) and dropped just one set. But they also tested themselves against top competition.

“Our last message in the gym on Wednesday before we came to this tournament was the fact that we played a tough schedule,” Longmore said. “We were 22-6 but three of those six losses were to Nos. 1 (Skyridge), 2 (Lone Peak) and 3 (Bingham) in the state. We we’re playing the right teams. And we played at the Durango Classic (in Nevada) and there’s no substitute for playing those quality teams down there.”

Pin hitters Marly Pratt (3.5 kills per set) and Emma Bailey (3.3) work effectively on the outside with great defense from libero Coco Denison and contributions from seniors Rachel Workman, Jaynee Tanner, Kayla Marshall, Hadley Maughan and Amarie Huntsman helped to secure that No. 1 RPI ranking. Senior Morgan Pratt (770 assists) directs the show from her setter position.

“Honestly, we haven’t even thought about the seed going into it,” Morgan Pratt said. “It’s just the same mentality. We’re going to fight like we’re the underdogs every match. We need to serve and pass well but it’s also the energy we bring. They’re my best friends and I’m going to work as hard as I can to do my part. I trust my teammates to do their part and we’re going to battle it out.”

Maple Mountain (24-6) will take on No. 4 Woods Cross (23-7) in one of Saturday’s semifinals.

“We spent a lot of time talking about what it means to be a good server and in a lot of our matches, especially against better quality opponents, our serving game has been the X Factor,” Longmore said.

Other local results

No. 5 Salem Hills lost a heartbreaker in the quarterfinals, falling to No. 4 Woods Cross 3-2. The Skyhawks to a 2-1 lead in the match and led 20-18 in the fourth set, but the Wildcats, behind stars Alisi Tapa’atoutai and Avery Poulton, went on a 7-0 run to claim a 25-20 win and force a fifth set. Salem Hills led 12-10 after a kill from Ella Robbins but Woods Cross battled back to tie the set at 12. The Skyhawks fought off match point twice but the Wildcats took a 16-15 lead and after an incredibly long rally, took the match on a swing from Poulton.

Salem Hills (19-9) moves into the consolation bracket and will take on No. 9 Viewmont on Friday. The winner of that match will advance to the 5th-7th place match.

Defending state champion Timpview, the No. 10 seed, lost to No. 7 Skyline in the second round in four sets. The T-Birds stayed alive in the tournament with a narrow five-set victory (25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-9) against East and will play No. 3 seed Hunter on Friday for an opportunity to finish sixth or eighth.

Friday’s consolation also round includes No. 17 Cedar Valley playing No. 20 Springville for a shot at the 6th-8th place match. The Aviators knocked off No. 8 seed Brighton in five (16-25, 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 15-12) in consolation play and the Red Devils also needed an extra set to advance, topping No. 12 Cyprus 22-25, 26-24, 32-34, 25-21, 16-14.

A total of six of the 16 matches played in the 5A tournament on Thursday went to five sets.