6A Girls Volleyball: Lone Peak cements four-peat legacy
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- Lone Peak’s Trinidy Tien, center, and her teammates pose with the 6A girls volleyball state championship trophy at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s Zoey Burgess (center) and her teammates celebrate winning the 6A girls volleyball state title at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s Zoey Burgess hugs teammate Devyn Hifo after winning the 6A girls volleyball state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates winning the 6A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s state championship t-shirt reads “Our Legacy Will be Great,” providing motivation for winning the school’s fourth straight state title.
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- Skyridge coach Silver Fonua accepts the runner-up trophy at the 6A girls volleyball state championships at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates winning the 6A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s Sam Pope sets the ball during the 6A girls volleyball state championship match against Skyridge at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak girls volleyball coach Paula Jardine and her team celebrate winning a set during the 6A state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s McKynzee Beddes (15) reacts after her team scored a point in the 6A girls volleyball state championship match against Skyridge at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates a point during the 6A state championship match against Skyridge at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s Masina Perez takes a swing against Skyridge in the 6A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Neriah Perez of Skyridge (25) takes a swing against Lone Peak in the 6A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Students sections for Lone Peak and Skyridge react to a play on the court during the 6A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Jasmine Mataira of Skyridge sets the ball during the 6A girls volleyball state championship match against Lone Peak at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Neriah Perez of Skyridge (25) tries to pass the ball during the 6A girls volleyball state championship match against Lone Peak at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak coach Paula Jardine and the Knights react to winning a 6A girls volleyball semifinal match against Bingham at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Skyridge volleyball fans react to a play during a 6A girls volleyball semifinal match against Corner Canyon at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Elle McCandless (7) and Neriah Perez put up a block against Corner Canyon in a 6A girls volleyball semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Elle McCandless of Skyridge (7) takes a swing against Corner Canyon in a 6A girls volleyball semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Jasmine Mataira of Skyridge sets the ball during a 6A girls volleyball semifinal match against Corner Canyon at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a 6A girls volleyball state semifinal match against Bingham at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Skyridge coach Silver Fonua addresses his team in a huddle during a 6A girls volleyball state semifinal match against Corner Canyon at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s Zoey Burgess (7) and Ava Burgess form a block against Bingham in a 6A girls volleyball state semifinal match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Lone Peak’s Trinidy Tien, left, and Ava Burgess reach go to the floor for a pass during a 6A girls volleyball state semifinal match against Bingham at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Former Lone Peak girls volleyball coach Reed Carlson, now at Bingham, demonstrates a swing for one of his players during a 6A state semifinal final match against his former team at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Zoey Burgess and her Lone Peak teammates don’t have to say a word.
All they have to do is hold up four fingers.
The t-shirt slogan for the Knights in the 2023 6A girls volleyball state tournament read, “Our legacy will be great.” Burgess’ legacy is that she played on four straight state championship teams, including Saturday’s 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-18) victory against Region 3 foe Skyridge at the UCCU Center.
“My freshman year our former coach, Reed Carlson, asked me, ‘What are you going to do to make an impact on Lone Peak? What legacy will you leave behind?’ As a freshman, that really stuck with me because thought to myself ‘I can do something special at Lone Peak. I’m going to show people Zoey Burgess is.’ I definitely think that I’ve left a legacy here and I’m so grateful for everybody that has helped me.”
The 6-foot-4 Burgess has had a wonderful career — she’ll take her game to the University of Kansas next season — but she definitely had plenty of help from her teammates. On Saturday, Cami Christensen led the Knights with 14 kills, followed by Zoey’s freshman sister, Ava, with 12. McKynzee Beddes (11 kills) and Zoey herself (10 kills) kept the Lone Peak offense humming right to the end of the match.
That’s how you put a stamp on a legacy, one that has produced 12 state championships in the past 20 seasons for the school.
“I think it’s more about the legacy than the greatness,” Knights coach Paula Jardine said. “They kind of take that on their shoulders. They talk about that legacy all the time, how they feel like they’re not starting it but they have to pass it on. And so as seniors, they felt that the weight of that and I think they really showed up. They were awesome.”
No. 1 seed Skyridge took Set 1 25-18, but Lone Peak slowly began to clean up their play and take control of the match.
“The first set we were just very frantic,” senior libero Trinidy Tien said. “We wanted to win for ourselves. We all wanted to win and we all wanted to shine. So we had to take a moment and realize that we can’t win if it’s just one person being the star. We have to come together, spread it out and carry the burden together instead of putting it all on one person.”
That attitude carried the Knights (28-5) through to the end. When the final point was scored, Zoey Burgess sank to the floor in celebration, then hugged every teammate in sight.
“I was the only freshman who played and sat varsity (in 2020),” she said. “So out of this whole team, I’m the only one who has gotten the four rings. I did it for my team because I’m playing with my younger sister as a freshman. All she wanted this whole season was to win with me and I just wanted to make that possible for her because she’s truly one of my best friends, even though she probably doesn’t know that as much.”
Lone Peak and Skyridge (28-2) split two matches during the regular season, with the Knights winning the first match in a sweep and the Falcons claiming the second in a five-set victory. The championship match settled things for good.
“We have eight seniors and this is a four-peat for them,” Jardine said. “So they won state every year and that’s a cool legacy for them.”
Semifinals
Lone Peak cruised to a relatively easy win in its semifinal with No. 3 Bingham, sweeping the Miners 25-17, 25-20, 25-9. Bingham is coached by Carlson, who is in his first year with the Miners and led them to a 27-4 record.
In the other 6A semifinal, No. 1 Skyridge powered through the first two sets with No. 5 Corner Canyon 25-21, 25-22 but the Chargers rallied for a 25-20 victory in Set 3.
Set 4 was a classic between two teams at the top of their game. The score was tied at points 15 through 25 as neither team gave any ground. Kylie Butters smashed a kill to get the Falcons to their third match point at 26-25. A Skyridge swing for the win went long, but Corner Canyon was hit with a net violation for the 27-25 finish to send the Falcons to their first 6A final, their first championship appearance since winning the 5A title in 2018.
