5A Girls Volleyball: Maple Mountain secures first state title
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team poses with fans after winning the 5A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountains Coco Denison (1) reacts to her team scoring a point during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match against Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- A Maple Mountain girls volleyball player celebrates with a fan after winning the 5A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team poses with the 5A state championship trophy after beating Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team celebrates winning the 5A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team hold up the 5A state championship trophy after beating Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team celebrates winning the 5A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s Emma Bailey serves in the 5A state championship match against Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team celebrates winning the 5A state championship at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain bench reacts to a play during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match against Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team and coaches watch the action during the 5A state championship match against Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain girls volleyball coach Adam Longmore gives instructions to his team during the 5A state championship match against Bountiful on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s Rachel Workman (32) takes a swing against Bountiful in the 5A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s Morgan Pratt sets the ball during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match against Bountiful on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s Emma Bailey, right, takes a swing against Bountiful in the 5A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s (from left) Kayla Marshall, Morgan Pratt and Marly Pratt prepare for a Bountiful serve during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s Marly Pratt takes a swing against Bountiful in the 5A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team prepares for introductions at the 5A state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain student section reacts during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain girls volleyball team reacts to scoring a point during the 5A state championship match against Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- Maple Mountain’s Marly Pratt serves the ball during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match against Bountiful at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
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- The Maple Mountain student section reacts during the 5A girls volleyball state championship match at the UCCU Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
No. 2 Bountiful and No. 1 Maple Mountain were on a collision course for this showdown all season.
It seemed like it would always be Redhawks star Taylor Harvey’s individual brilliance vs. the Golden Eagles mighty band of undersized heroes in the 5A state championship match.
On Saturday, both teams did their thing but Maple Mountain gave its fans what they really wanted.
The Golden Eagles dug Harvey plenty and played their signature relentless style, claiming a 3-1 victory (25-14, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19) at the UCCU Center and bringing home the school’s first ever girls volleyball state title.
“It’s just that all our hard work paid off,” Maple Mountain senior Marly Pratt said. “I’m so proud of every single one of the girls who work so hard in the gym every single day. It’s just every day, same thing. We just grind it. Everyone’s put in 100% of their effort every single day. So it’s just hours and hours in the gym and then outside the gym just being best friends. I think it’s cool that we could build this program and I’m excited to see where it can go.”
The 6-foot-3 Harvey, just a junior, was as advertised and passed the 500-kill mark for the season during the match. But it was the Golden Eagles diverse attack and fearless defense that kept the momentum on their sideline.
“It’s all about trusting your teammates,” senior Emma Bailey said. “We’re not huge. We don’t have one person that just dominates, but we trust each other and we all do our part.”
Senior setter Morgan Pratt got Maple Mountain (26-6) off to great starts in Sets 1 and 2 with her serving, and the Golden Eagles raced to a 2-0 lead in the match. In Set 3, Harvey started to find her groove and helped her team to a 16-6 lead that turned into a 25-18 win.
The loss didn’t trouble Maple Mountain in the slightest, because they had been in similar positions all season.
“We haven’t dropped a lot of sets this year,” Golden Eagles coach Adam Longmore admitted. “But we’ve dropped some sets to some good teams and for sure, Bountiful is a great team. But through those experiences we’ve learned to just deal with it. We’ve never really struggled at it. We’ve talked about the ebbs and flows of the game and to just play through. The better team is the team that’s going to work hard and be disciplined. The other team might be better than us for 15 or 20 minutes and that’s fine. You don’t have to be better than the opponent the whole time. So if we lose some points, if we drop the set, no big deal. We’re just gonna continue to focus on us and be good at what we do.”
Set 4 was close until Morgan Pratt fed Rachel Workman for back-to-back kills, then Workman and Hadley Maughan teamed up for a block and a 14-10 Maple Mountain lead. Marly Pratt knocked down a pair of kills to get the Golden Eagles to match point at 24-18. Moments later, Bountiful’s serve went long and the celebration on the Maple Mountain sideline took off.
“I think the difference is that our team, we’re best friends and we love spending every second together,” junior libero Coco Denison said. “It’s pretty cool. I mean, we’ve come a long way since Adam took over. He’s turned the program around and really helped us. We’ve grown together through years of hard work.”
Maple Mountain and Bountiful lost in the state semifinals last season and the Redhawks earned third place with a 3-2 victory against the Golden Eagles.
Longmore said his group simply went back to the gym to change things the next time they had the chance.
“From Day 1, these kids have worked their tails off,” Longmore said. “We’re not big. We may be the smallest team out of out of all the teams here. But we have grit, resilience, and the ability to let go of mistakes and be really selfless players. When I look at each of these players, individually and collectively as a whole, at the end of the day, they’re just great people. These are wonderful young ladies and they’re going to be successful in anything that they do.”
Semifinals
Maple Mountain routed No. 4 Woods Cross 25-8, 25-6 to take a commanding 2 sets to none lead in their semifinal matchup earlier in the day. Set 3 was much closer and the Wildcats trailed just 22-20. Marly Pratt took over down the stretch with two kills and a service ace to propel the Golden Eagles to a 25-21 victory and the school’s first trip to the finals.
