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Pleasant Grove's Kenadi Lee, right, tries to avoid the ball after a Westlake block during a Region 3 boys volleyball match on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Pleasant Grove's Tyson Jarvis (9) serves the ball against Westlake in a Region 3 boys volleyball match on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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The Westlake bench reacts to a point during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Westlake's Landon Doller serves the ball against Pleasant Grove during a Region 3 boys volleyball match on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Westlake's Kyson Ririe (in black) and Will Harris jump together during introductions before a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Westlake's Kilika Tafa serves the ball in a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Pleasant Grove's Weston Johanson, right, makes a play at the net against Westlake's Keagan Cundiff during a Region 3 boys volleyball match on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Westlake coach Whitney Randall, left, slaps hands with Keagan Cundiff before the start of a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Westlake's Kilika Tafa (12) tries to pass the ball over Pleasant Grove's Kenadi Lee during a Region 3 boys volleyball match on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Westlake's Kyson Ririe (18) hits the ball over the Pleasant Grove block during a Region 3 boys volleyball match on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

Pleasant Grove took down Lone Peak in Region 3 boys volleyball play last week.

Why not do the same to Westlake, the No. 2 team in Class 6A RPI?

The Vikings continued its strong play on Tuesday with a 27-29, 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 win against the Thunder in a showdown of Top 10 6A teams.

Pretty much every match in Region 3 is a banger with four of the Top ten in RPI (Westlake No. 2, Pleasant Grove No. 4, Lone Peak No. 5 and Skyridge No. 7) from that league.

Tuesday was an outstanding match between two teams capable of making a run in the 6A state tournament.

The victory for PG avenged a five-set loss at Westlake on March 26.

“I think there’s so much talent in this state,” Pleasant Grove coach Dave Neeley said. “No matter where we go, there’s a good team there with good players that can crush balls and serve hard. We started 13-0 and our first loss was to Westlake. We had six match points against them but they won it. We kind of reeling a little bit after that because we were trying to figure out where we fit in this region.

“Tonight our passing was good. Our offense is designed to that we have a lot of hitters in lots of different places that are easy to set and is confusing to opponents. We keep getting better at passing and that’s really a big key.”

Leading two sets to one entering the fourth set, Pleasant Grove fell behind 13-8 but found its footing. A tandem block and an ace from Tyson Jarvis brought the Vikings to within two at 13-11. PG took a 14-13 lead on a Westlake error and grew the lead with strong defense. A block from Brayden Thomas and Ethan Hillyard put the Vikings up 17-13 and it was 19-14 on another Thomas kill. Hillyard’s attack scored for a 23-16 lead and PG got to match point on a Westlake error. The Thunder fought off a couple of endings but Kenadi Lee finally ended things with a smash out of the middle for the 3-1 victory.

Westlake took an early 11-7 lead in Set 1 behind the strong serving of Kilika Tafa but Pleasant Grove battled back and tied the set at 21-all on a 3-0 run: A kill from Kenadi Lee, a block and a service ace from Thomas. Westlake got to set point first at 25-24 but the Vikings set up Jarvis for a kill to keep the set going into extra points. Both teams had set points but it was the Thunder who took the 29-27 win on a PG hitting error.

Set 2 was also close, tied at 14 before Aki Malietoa’s block gave Pleasant Grove the lead. Landon Doller’s kill pulled Westlake even at 22-22 but the Vikings sent on a run to close out the set. Jarvis put down a kill and then smashed back-to-back aces for a 25-22 PG win.

The Vikings took over Set 3 early, getting a tip from Weston Johanson and a Westlake hitting error to grab a 12-7 lead. It became 15-9 for PG and the home team stayed in front from there. A Thunder error pushed the Vikings lead to 24-17 and moments later Thomas hammered a kill for the 25-19 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Johanson led the Vikings with 19 kills.

“We’re turning things around because we’re confident and we’re hitting better,” Johanson said. “When we’re more confident, we play smarter and we don’t lose our composure. Then we play our game at the highest level. Our passing and our serving in our first game against Westlake was definitely a weak point for us, but we turned it around in this game and we showed more experience and passion.”

Lee had 14 kills for the Vikings and Jarvis added eight kills and four aces.

Pleasant Grove (19-5 overall, 4-4 Region 3) hosts American Fork on Thursday and is at Riverton in a non-league match on Friday.

Westlake (14-4, 5-3) will take on Lone Peak Thursday and finishes the regular season next Tuesday at home against American Fork.

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