Pleasant Grove wins first-ever 6A crown – Deseret News

Heading into the 6A boys volleyball state tournament, the Pleasant Grove Vikings had a disappointing reputation on defense.

They spent the tournament proving that reputation wrong. The Vikings continued their winning streak and ended the season by defeating Lone Peak 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15 to capture their first-ever 6A state championship.

Pleasant Grove senior Kennadi Lee said, “An anonymous coach was saying our defense was terrible, so yesterday the coach told us to work hard on that, and from there the dynamic of our defense took off. I was born,” he said. “It feels really good (to prove them wrong).”

Lone Peak started the match with a 2-5 lead, but Pleasant Grove quickly attacked and took the first set 25-22.

The Knights had a height advantage against the Vikings, and Lone Peak timed their blocks well in the second set. Pleasant Grove had trouble getting over the Lone Peak wall and the Knights built a 15-20 lead.

The Vikings went on a 5-0 run to tie the score at 20-20, but Lone Peak hung on to take the second set 22-25.

Pleasant Grove head coach Dave Neely knew his team would have to adapt to the Lone Peak block.

“Yesterday we talked about Syracuse and Lone Peak being good defensive teams because they are good defensive teams,” Neely said. “The strategy against a team like that is to just keep swinging, keep playing our way, and if we get blocked, keep doing the same thing. We really came out on fire in the third and fourth sets.”

In the third and fourth sets, Pleasant Grove looked like a different team. The Vikings earned all of their Lone Peak points and completed the free point award.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Grove extended its lead further with some adjustments to its hitting, and jumped out to a 25-18 victory in the third set.

“It's night and day from where we started at the beginning of the season to where we are now,” Pleasant Grove outside hitter Tyson Jarvis said. Jarvis finished the championship game with a team-high 14 kills.

“We had to keep the energy up, keep our heads up and keep pushing. I just gave it my all, the whole team gave it their all, everyone tried, and that's what we wanted the most.”

Pleasant Grove's Kennadi Lee and Weston Johansson also played well in the third and fourth sets, both finishing with 10 kills.

“That's really our setter. If you say you want him outside more, he'll put it there,” Lee said. “He's the key. We have good passes, but it's all about him.”

In the fourth set, the Vikings' defense tightened up. Pleasant Grove's Aki Malietoa had a big impact on the net with two blocks in the final set, and his teammates kept every ball alive as possible.

“I asked the players a few nights ago what they were looking forward to this weekend, and they said they were excited to play our best defense of the season, because we've struggled in that area this year,” Neely said. Ta. “We played really good defense this morning and tonight. It's just the mindset, the attitude and the desire to dig.”

Pleasant Grove's defense put pressure on Lone Peak and the Vikings took the advantage with a 25-15 victory in the fourth set.

On March 4, Pleasant Grove played its first UHSAA sanctioned game, defeating Mountain View 3-0, and ended the season Saturday with its first-ever 6A crown.

“From Game 1 to tonight, it's been a special season in so many ways,” Neely said. “It's really special to see the progress they've made. It's special to see the amount of talent in this state and there's a really bright future for this sport in this state.”