Carrying on the legacy: Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess is Valley Player of the Year
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- Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess (3) takes a swing in the 6A girls volleyball state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
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- Ava Burgess, right, prepares for a set during the first day of the 6A state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
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- Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess prepares to serve in the 6A girls volleyball state championship match against Pleasant Grove at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024.
The Lone Peak girls volleyball team found themselves down two games to none in the semifinals of this season’s 6A state finals against Mountain Ridge. The Knights dreams of a fifth straight state title seemed to be fading on the UCCU Center floor, and fast.
Lone Peak coach Matthew Moeai turned to sophomore standout Ava Burgess, who had struggled along with the rest of the team through the first two sets.
“After that rough start, there was a point where I asked Ava, ‘Can you do this? Do you need someone to come in for you?'” Moeai recalled. “She said, ‘No, I got this.’ She turned it around. That tracks for Ava. With the mental aspect of the game, she’s able to respond to tough situations.”
Burgess finished with 22 kills as the Knights rebounded with a stunning reverse sweep to win the match 3-2, then went on to power past No. 1 seed Pleasant Grove 3-1 in the finals.
“That match against Mountain Ridge, their students were on our side so we had to block them out,” Burgess said. “They were calling my name so it was a mental game for me. I was trying so hard to focus. The first two sets were really bad. I knew if I just stayed calm and focused on my job and the game, we wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”
Nobody played bigger when the moment required it, and Burgess, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter, is the 2024 Daily Herald Girls Volleyball Player of the Year. She is the 11th player from Lone Peak to win the award.
Burgess finished with 192 kills (3.7 per set) and hit .248 during her sophomore year, along with 21 aces, 22 blocks and 152 digs. But it was her high level of play in the state tournament that separated her from the pack. Burgess totaled 77 kills in four matches, including 20 in the finals against Pleasant Grove, and hit .376.
“She really got better this season,” Moeai said. “Watching her play in club this summer, she progressed well over the nine-month period leading up to nationals. But I found it very surprising for a 15-year-old girl to become the player she did in three months of the high school season. She really stepped up as an offensive leader. Ava rises to the occasion and she’s not afraid of what’s in front of her.”
Burgess’ father, Chris, is an assistant basketball coach for the BYU men’s team and her mother, Lessa, played soccer at the University of Utah. Ava said she tried basketball as a youngster but didn’t like it. Her two sisters, Kelli Jo (KJ) and Zoey, played volleyball so she gave that sport a try and learned to love it.
KJ Burgess won three state titles at Lone Peak and after beginning her college career at Utah is now playing for the University of Oklahoma. Zoey, who won four state titles and shared the Knights’ 2023 championship with Ava, is a freshman at the University of Kansas.
“KJ mostly plays the game because of her teammates so I want to be like that, too,” Ava Burgess said. “I really like how energetic and encouraging to teammates Zoey is. If she has a bad game you can’t tell because she’s always happy.”
Ava Burgess said the start of the 2024 high school season was an adjustment.
“At the beginning, I think it was rough playing with new setters,” she said. “At first I was trying to just swing hard. Matthew told me to swing high and that was my focus the whole season. I really got it right before state. If I swing high and can get the ball over the block, it’s always a better outcome than swinging straight down.”
The Knights split with Pleasant Grove during the Region 3 schedule, each team winning on the other’s home court. The Vikings earned the No. 1 seed for the state tournament with Lone Peak No. 2 and Mountain Ridge No. 3. The Lone Peak setters (senior Sam Pope and junior Nevaeh Tien) found a good offensive rhythm with Burgess, junior Madison Rich and seniors McKynzee Beddes, Kyra Mahler and Hallie Layton to eventually take home the gold trophy.
“During region play we all kind of focused on ourselves, and no one was playing to the best of their ability,” Ava Burgess said. “Going into state, we knew it was not going to be easy. We knew we had to trust each other more. If we made mistakes, we had to stay positive.
“Last year was really special to share the championship with my sister. I loved all of the seniors, but I think I got even more close with this year’s seniors. I had more of a relationship with them and that made winning with them so special.”
Ava Burgess will have a very busy spring and summer playing for Club V. She’ll travel with her team all over the country, eventually landing in Dallas in July for nationals.
“A player like Ava doesn’t come around every year,” Moeai said. “she’s still just 15 years old but you’d never guess that watching her on the court. She plays well beyond her years and stays more composed than most players. She’s not afraid of making mistakes or figuring things out on her own. I always gave her the green light to go for things she was working on and she was comfortable in doing so.”
A long legacy
Since 2003, Lone Peak has won the Daily Herald Girls Volleyball Player of the Year 12 times. Ava Burgess is the 11th Knight to win the award (Madelyn Robinson won it twice).
2003 Paige Palmer
2004 Ashley Hamilton
2006 Christie Carpenter
2007 Lacey Laycock
2008 Heather Hannemann
2010 Ashlan Rogers
2012 McKenzie Willey
2016 Madelyn Robinson
2017 Madelyn Robinson
2020 Lauren Jardine
2021 Jayda Tupea
2024 Ava Burgess
