State Volleyball: PG powers to 5A semifinals, Skyridge, LP advance in 6A
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- Pleasant Grove’s Taytum Nelson takes a swing against Maple Mountain in a 5A girls volleyball state quarterfinal match at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Skyridge senior Kylie Buttars (10) celebrates a kill with her teammates during a 6A girls volleyball second round match with Westlake at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Lone Peak’s Cree Cooper (4) takes a swing against Davis in a 6A girls volleyball state second round match at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Maple Mountain’s Karli Smith takes a swing against Pleasant Grove in a 5A girls volleyball state quarterfinal match at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Skyridge senior Kylie Buttars passes the ball during a 6A girls volleyball second round match against Westlake at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove volleyball players celebrate a point during a 5A state quarterfinal match against Maple Mountain at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Addi Jensen (19) takes a swing against Woods Cross in a 5A girls volleyball state quarterfinal match at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Skyridge setter Lily Grant (center) sets the ball to a teammate in a 6A girls volleyball state second round match with Westlake at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Baylee Smith (24) celebrates a point during a 5A state quarterfinal match against Woods Cross at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
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- Lone Peak girls volleyball players celebrate an ace serve in a 6A state second round match with Davis at the UCCU Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
After a slow start, the Pleasant Grove girls volleyball team is making itself comfortable in Class 5A.
The Vikings, a perennial power with with eight state titles (the last in 2019), finished as 6A runner-up last season but found itself moved to 5A in the last UHSAA realignment.
PG started the season 1-5 against a difficult schedule but has gone 18-4 since, including a 13-1 record in Region 7. On Wednesday at the state tournament, the Vikings swept two opponents to earn a spot in Thursday’s semifinals.
“The one thing that I will say is we have a bunch of girls who have been here before,” PG head coach Isa Takahashi said. “They were able to mentally and physically prepare and help the younger kids handle the stress of being here. There’s a different pressure when it comes to state. There’s this moment where really it’s just another game. We’re playing good volleyball. The girls are deciding to be a better team and get distractions out of the way.”The No. 5 seed Vikings (19-9) won their 10th and 11th matches in a row on Wednesday, rolling past No. 12 Wasatch in a sweep (30-28, 25-18, 25-17) in the second round and No. 4 Maple Mountain 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-11) in the quarterfinals, both for the third time this season against their Region 7 foes.
The first time the Vikings and Golden Eagles met in Region 7 play, PG won in a reverse sweep. The second time, the Vikings won at home in four. In the quarterfinals, Pleasant Grove was in control the entire match.
The Vikings were especially impressive in the third set, pressing to a 12-1 lead after a kills from Lexi Brown and Taytum Nelson and cruising to the win.
“My girls were ready, because they knew that it was going to be tough,” Takahashi said. “We came out and we executed. It’s cool to see the leadership that we have, because they’re the ones that are bringing it up and saying, ‘Hey, we failed last year. So let’s do this.”
One area where Pleasant Grove has continued to grow is with sophomore setter Marley McCandless, who stepped into the formidable shoes of last year’s All-State setter, Avrie Valgardson, who is playing at Salt Lake Community College this season.
Takahashi said McCandless will be one of the nation’s top recruits.
“I’m lucky to have such a talented kid in that position,” he said. “I’m just blessed to have a bunch of good kids with some depth, but they’ve all stepped up. They’ve learned and I’m grateful we’re at a place where we can go compete.”
McCandless has plenty of weapons at her disposal, including perhaps the best middle blocker tandem in the state (6-foot-6 Utah State commit Nelson and 6-2 Molly Mitchell) and a trio of outstanding pin hitters in junior Brown and seniors Addie Beck and Marli Vaea.
“We’ve really had good energy and we’ve been playing as a team,” McCandless said. “It’s been really positive on the court. That’s helping us play together and our plays really well together. We’re playing as hard as we can for every point.”
Pleasant Grove will face top seed Woods Cross (28-1) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The Wildcats swept the Vikings in a tournament on Sept. 5.
Woods Cross, its only loss a 3-2 decision to 6A No. 1 Skyridge back in September, swept No. 9 Spanish Fork 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 26-24) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
5A Second Round
No. 9 Spanish Fork, No. 4 Maple Mountain and No. 5 Pleasant Grove all advanced to the quarterfinals with wins Wednesday morning.
The Dons handled No. 8 West Jordan 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 26-24), the Golden Eagles swept No. 20 Olympus (25-19, 25-14, 25-21) and the Vikings defeated Region 7 foe Wasatch for the third time this season 3-0 (30-28, 25-18, 25-17).
Skyridge, Lone Peak advance in 6A Tournament
Wednesday’s second round matchups at the UCCU Center put top-seeded Skyridge and No. 4 Lone Peak on Courts 2 and 3, respectively.
If the two teams were sneaking looks at each other, you couldn’t blame them.
Skyridge (25-2) comes in as a heavy favorite, with its only losses to No. 2 seed Corner Canyon (in five sets) and Madison (Idaho).
Lone Peak (19-10) is shooting for a sixth straight state title, through going in as the No. 4 seed is something new for the Knights.
Both teams flexed their muscles in their matches. Skyridge pounded No. 17 Westlake in three (25-8, 25-8, 25-14) and Lone Peak swept No. 13 Davis (25-14, 25-13. 25-12) with both teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
The Falcons are the favorite to win their first state title since 2018.
“We try not to talk about being the one seed too much because sometimes it can affect what’s going on,” Skyridge head coach Tayler Hifo said. “Where we’ve really worked these past two weeks is just our big belief and self confidence. We’re still working on bettering our skills, but we’re not adding new skills. We’re working on our self-talk and out our big belief, because that’s what’s going to carry us in the tournament.”
The Falcons were an offensive machine against Westlake, with seniors Kylie Buttars (18 kills, .667) and Hayden Smith (14 kills, .684) punishing the opposing defense.
“We wanted to play clean and do the little things, which is going to help us later on in the tournament,” Hifo said. “They executed well.”
Skyridge faced No. 8 Herriman in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, which finished after the Daily Herald’s print deadline. Lone Peak took on No. 5 Syracuse, which swept No. 12 Riverton (25-19, 25-17, 25-21).
The semifinals are scheduled for noon on Thursday and could feature a Skyridge-Lone Peak matchup. The Falcons won both meetings this season 3-1 and 3-0 but the Knights eliminated Skyridge in last year’s semifinals.
The championship match is set for 6:30 p.m.
