OREM — Pleasant Grove was the first team to compete in a sanctioned boys volleyball match in March.
On Saturday night, they were the last team standing with the trophy.
After a back-and-forth battle through the first two sets, the Vikings exploded to defeat the Lone Peak Knights 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15 Saturday night at UCCU Center. It broke.
“Today we were just determined to win,” middle blocker Aki Malietoa said. “That's what got us the win. We just continued to train hard and love the sport.”
Both teams showed their determination early on. The first set had 12 ties and four lead changes and was tied 22-22 before Pleasant Grove won the final three points. After the Vikings trailed by five points and tied the set at 20-20, Lone Peak answered with a second goal to tie the match at 1-1.
But at 9-8 in the third set, Pleasant Grove head coach Dave Neely called for a timeout.
The message was simple. “Dig deep and fight hard,” Malietoa said, adding that it's time for Neely to remind his team that they can “take control” of the game.
The Vikings answered with the next six points to make it 15-8, but despite Lone Peak head coach Cecil Reid's frantic efforts to stop the bleeding, the game was never evenly contested again. .
“Every time out, they just came back believing they made it,” Neely said. “They just took it to a new level this week physically, mentally and emotionally.”
It also helps when you're having fun, like outside hitter Brayden Thomas. Thomas ended the fourth set with a momentum that Lone Peak was unable to maintain, sparking a mosh pit on the Pleasant Grove side of the court.
“We just had to change the settings a little bit,” Thomas said. “Once we did that, we got them out of their system and created the tempo we wanted.”
The crowd inside the UCCU Center, especially those mostly wearing Pleasant Grove blue and white, also felt the change in tempo midway through the third song.
The match culminated in the fourth set, with Pleasant Grove extending its lead to 10 points at 20-10 for the first time all night, and Lone Peak coach Cecil Reed decided to empty his bench to compensate for his deficit. Ta.
Immediately, fans celebrated with the players as the trophy was presented.
“A few times during the game, I looked up and smiled at (the fans),” Neely said. “We’re really happy to have the Pleasant Grove family come.”
It means a lot to the Neely family as well. Dave's older brother, former BYU women's volleyball assistant Johnny Neely, started his career as an assistant at Pleasant Grove, which led to him being approached for the head coaching position at Pleasant Grove. said.
“Those girls’ trophies are still in the trophy case,” he said. “It’s going to be a great new addition to the trophy case.”
You can't get these trophies without your teammates. Malietoa said teammates like Thomas and outside hitter Tyson Jarvis are “the most important thing” to him, saying he simply considers them “brothers who lift me up and push me to be better.” He said it was no surprise that he called it that.
“This is the best feeling ever. This is amazing,” Thomas said. “We started by sweeping (Mountain View) and came out on top in the state.”
