5A Boys Volleyball: Hillman brothers help lead No. 1 Maple Mountain into semifinals
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- Maple Mountain’s Taft Hillman sets the ball during a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match against Viewmont at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Mac Hillman takes a swing against Viewmont in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork’s Conner Brockbank takes a swing against Wasatch in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Players on the Maple Mountain bench react to a play on the court during a 5A boys state tournament match with Viewmont at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Gavin Pricer serves the ball during a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match against Viewmont at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork’s Connor Brockbank takes a swing against the Wasatch block during a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Spanish Fork’s Tyson Mansfield (11) sets the ball during a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match against Wasatch at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Chase Billeter of Wasatch (4) takes a swing against Spanish Fork in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Trey Thornton takes a swing against Viewmont during a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Trey Thornton takes a swing against Viewmont in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- JJ Serre of Wasatch (35) takes a swing against the block of Spanish Fork’s Alec Bluth (6) and Connor Brockbank during a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Timpview’s Micah Laughlin (22) celebrates a point with his teammates during the 5A boys volleyball state tournament at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Trey Thornton prepares to serve against Viewmont in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Johan Stoop (26) and Trey Thornton throw up a block against Viewmont in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Johan Stoop (26) and Trey Thornton throw up a block against Viewmont in a 5A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain’s Taft Hillman sets the ball during a 5A state volleyball match with Viewmont at the UCCU Center on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
The name “Hillman” might be familiar to hardcore local volleyball fans.
Back in 2004, Joe Hillman was a key player in leading the BYU men to their last NCAA title, an epic 3-2 victory against Long Beach State in Hawaii.
Now Hillman is an assistant at Maple Mountain, coaching his two sons, Mac and Taft. The No. 1 seed Golden Eagles swept two opponents on Thursday at Utah Valley’s UCCU Center to reach the 5A state semifinals.
“I love it,” Mac Hillman said. “It’s my senior year and it’s great that for my last season I get to play with my brother. I just love that the team is a family and we’ve been that way since the beginning of the year. It’s so fun winning together.”
Joe Hillman said he’s seen several of his former teammates with sons playing volleyball, including current BYU coach Shawn Olmstead (Evan Olmstead is a junior at American Fork) and former players Michael Burke and Victor Batista.
Maple Mountain (23-2) powered past No. 17 Box Elder (25-9, 25-17, 25-20) and No. 9 Viewmont (25-10, 25-15, 25-17) to earn its way to Saturday’s semifinal.
It’s the first season of boys volleyball in the state of Utah.
“Isn’t this a fun environment, having all these games going at the same time?” Golden Eagles head coach Geoff Wright said. “It’s exciting and there’s great talent all over the place. I think we have a lot of chemistry and we’re coming together, just being a family. We had some nice practices and did some team building. It’s about how you build and support each other and work together.”
Wright said his players are handling the “favorite” tag well.
“We were a little worried about that because when you have that mark on your back, everyone is coming for you. We talked about it and gave them some scenarios. We talked about being focused and loose and they’re being focused and loose.”
Viewmont came into the quarterfinals after outlasting No. 8 Alta in five sets, but was overwhelmed by Maple Mountain. BYU commit Trey Thornton had 13 kills and hit .407 and had help from Mac Hillman, Johan Stoop and Gavin Pricer with five kills each. Taft Hillman, a sophomore setter, had 30 assists and six aces for the Golden Eagles.
Mac Hillman said ever since the team came back from spring break everything has been clicking. Maple Mountain has won 16 matches in a row since a 3-2 loss to Timpview on March 19.
“We’ve all been really energetic lately,” he said. “We’ve all had much better chemistry. The break definitely helped us out. In the semifinals, it will be on us to just play our game and believe in ourselves.”
The Golden Eagles will take on Region 7 foe Spanish Fork (20-9) in one of Saturday’s semifinals. The Dons, the No. 5 seed, swept No. 21 Granger (25-13, 25-15, 25-19) in the second round and faced another Region 7 team, No. 4 Wasatch, in the quarterfinals. The two teams couldn’t have been much closer: They tied for second in Region 7 at 8-4, splitting a pair of five-set matches during the regular season. So of course, Thursday’s quarterfinal went five sets.
Spanish Fork got out to an 11-5 lead in the fifth set on a kill from Caleb Cabrera but Wasatch rallied and closed to 13-10. The Dons rode the right arm of Connor Brockbank to finish off the win. Brockbank pounded out three big kills down the stretch, including the winner at match point.
“When we got to the fifth set, we had team spirit and we were kind of a machine,” he said. “We were like clockwork, where the gears mesh and together and everything just comes out beautifully. I really liked our energy and just being together. We’re a short team. Everyone we play has like 6-foot-6 players and middles that are humungous. Our middles are short, but we have a ferocity, we have tenacity and we have courage to step up and just pound away to get every single point possible.”
Maple Mountain swept Spanish Fork in both matches the teams played during the regular season.
“We really wanted to play Maple Mountain because they swept us and we did not play our best,” Brockbank said. “We want to come back and beat them on Saturday.”
The other Saturday semifinal is a matchup between No. 2 Olympus (25-4) and No. 3 Bountiful (23-6). The Titans survived a five-set marathon match with No. 10 Skyline in the quarterfinals and the RedHawks swept No. 11 Clearfield.
In other area 5A action, No. 13 Salem Hills lost to No. 4 Wasatch 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 16-25, 25-20) but rebounded to sweep No. 21 Granger (25-14, 25-21) to advance to Friday’s consolation round. The Skyhawks will play No. 8 Alta for a chance to move on to the 6th-8th place match.
No. 7 Timpview lost a five-set heartbreaker to No. 10 Skyline in the second round (25-17, 25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 15-12) then moved past No. 15 Cedar Valley 2-1 (13-25, 25-23, 25-20) to advance to Friday’s consolation round.
