Returning the favor: PG avenges early loss, beats Lone Peak in Highland
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- The Pleasant Grove girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a Region 3 match against Lone Peak on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- Lone Peak’s Brooke Christoffersen (10) tips the ball over Pleasant Grove’s Aleah McDaniel during a Region 3 girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- Pleasant Grove’s Addisyn Beck serves the ball during a Region 3 girls volleyball match against Lone Peak on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- Lone Peak’s Luhanna Panta serves the ball during a Region 3 girls volleyball match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 1 2024.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates a point in a Region 3 match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- The Pleasant Grove girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a Region 3 match at Lone Peak on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- Lone Peak’s Sam Pope (4) sets the ball during a Region 3 girls volleyball match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a Region 3 match against Pleasant Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
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- Lone Peak’s Kyra Mahler (18) attacks the ball against the block of Pleasant Grove’s Molly Mitchell during a Region 3 girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
It doesn’t get much better in Utah Valley girls high school volleyball than an October matchup between Lone Peak and Pleasant Grove.
When these two 6A titans met last month in Pleasant Grove, the Knights took a 3-1 decision. On Monday in Lone Peak’s gym, the Vikings returned the favor with a 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22) win.
“I would say we learned a lot from that first loss,” PG coach Isa Takahashi said. “It was really humbling. We looked at ourselves, held ourselves accountable, came back the next day and went to work. I’m really proud of the kids because they made a lot of great adjustments and learned how to play at a high level. Lone Peak plays a really clean game, so if you want to beat them, you have to play cleaner.”
In the deciding fourth set, Pleasant Grove took an 18-15 lead on a kill from Aleah McDaniel but Lone Peak managed to forge a tie at 19-all. The score reached 21-all before Avrie Valgardson fed McDaniel for another kill. A hitting error by the Knights gave the Vikings a 23-21 advantage and Molly Mitchell came through with a clutch ace serve to reach match point at 24-21. At 24-22, Lone Peak dug an Addisyn Beck attack but an overpass set up McDaniel for the match-winning swing at 25-22.
“Honestly, I think the first time we played them we beat ourselves,” Valgardson said. “This time we locked in on our serving, controlling what we can control. I feel like our energy was really high and we played as a team, instead of going on our separate islands. This was definitely a good win for us. It felt so good.”
Set 1 was tied ten times before Pleasant Grove went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-17 lead. Valrgardson had a kill, a block and tip in the sequence. At 24-21, Lone Peak scored twice to trim the deficit to two, but Valgardson set up McDaniel for another kill and the 25-23 win.
The second set was tight all the way to the end with neither team able to pull away. Pleasant Grove got to set point at 24-23 on a kill from Beck but the Knights fought off the end and scored three straight points, with McKynzee Beddes getting the set winning kill at 26-24 to even the match at 1-1.
Pleasant Grove jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set but Lone Peak worked its way back to a 14-14 tie. A kill from Taytum Nelson and an ace serve from Kaitlin Stadler pushed the Vikings to a 17-14 advantage. PG had a strong finish, outscoring the Knights 5-1 down the stretch. McDaniel had a pair of kills in the run and Molly Mitchell’s powerful swing ended it at 25-20 for a 2-1 Vikings lead in the match and set up the fourth set showdown.
“I wanted to give a shout out to all my passers,” Takahashi said. “They let us be able to do that (run their offense) with their first-ball touches and transition off the serve. Cass (Cassidy Brinton). Ellie (Carver), Aleah, Addy (Beck), they all passed at a really high level and took care of the ball. My other setter, Caitlin, she steps into the passing rotation and helps us out a lot, too.”
Valgardson established setting her middles (Nelson and Mitchell) before opening things up with her pin hitters, Beck and McDaniel, and that combination proved to be difficult to stop.
“We’re more calm, if that makes sense,” Valgardson said. “Our passing was phenomenal tonight. It makes it a lot easier to run the offense. Every is just starting to figure out how to do their jobs and do them really well. It’s fun to see us grow as a team and I still think we have a lot of room to grow.”
Pleasant Grove (18-1 overall, 5-1 Region 3) will play at American Fork on Thursday. Lone Peak (17-2, 6-1) will meet Skyridge on the road.
