5A Girls Volleyball: Pleasant Grove takes third place with win vs. Fremont
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- Pleasant Grove girls volleyball coach Isa Takahashi gives instructions to his players in the 5A state semifinals against Woods Cross in the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove’s Kaitlin Stadler serves against Woods Cross in the 5A girls volleyball state semifinals at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove girls volleyball players celebrate a point in the 5A state semifinals against Woods Cross at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove’s Marli Vaea (11) and Molly Mitchell put up a block against Woods Cross in the 5A girls volleyball state semifinals at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove’s Lexi Brown takes a swing against Woods Cross in the 5A girls volleyball state semifinals at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove’s Lexi Brown goes low for a dig in the 5A girls volleyball state semifinals against Woods Cross at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Pleasant Grove girls volleyball fans react to a point in the 5A state semifinals at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
Pleasant Grove girls volleyball coach Isa Takahashi had to collect himself before the post-match interviews after his team claimed third place in the 5A state tournament at the UCCU Center.
The emotions really didn’t have as much to do with the results on Thursday as it did with reflecting on his senior class.
Taytum Nelson, Molly Mitchell, Marli Vaea, Addie Beck, Kaitlin Stadler, Talei Peterson, Olivia Marsh, Josslyn Baird and Quincy Harvey were freshman when Takahashi started at PG four years ago.
“We’re trying to build a culture and impact kids,” Takahashi said. “It’s been a blessing. They helped me a lot to be a better me. I just wanted to give them the best on my side so they can go be great. Most coaches do that not for themselves but they want to help. We’ve all had great coaches in our lives that have impacted us in so many ways.”
The Vikings battled with top-seeded Woods Cross in Thursday’s semifinals but surrendered momentum too often and couldn’t slow down the Wildcats’ powerful offense.
Pleasant Grove bounced back in the 3rd-4th place match, sweeping No. 2 Fremont in two sets to earn the third-place trophy.
“They’ve worked so hard consistently all year, and it just shows up when they play,” Takahashi said. “With this match, they were like, ‘Let’s just come together and go get a W so we don’t end on a loss.’ They played their normal volleyball and it was fun. You saw how proud they were to get the other kids in the match. So this was a good team win.”
Stadler, who started at libero, said, “It means a lot to be able to come here and work so hard and be together throughout the four years and be united. We had a chance here and we wanted to end on a win. So to take third and end on a good high note, that’s great.”
Pleasant Grove finished the season with a 20-10 record, recovering nicely from a 1-5 start.
“We had to change our mindset, work together and become unified as a team,” Stadler said. “We had to lean on each other more and become not so individualized and more of a team together. That’s what really put us over the top.”
5A Semifinals
Woods Cross displayed just why it was the No. 1 seed in the 5A tournament, rolling past No. 5 Pleasant Grove 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-18) to advance to the finals.
Wildcats star Avery Poulton was dynamic throughout the match, finishing with 16 kills and hitting at a very high percentage. Junior Lexi Brown put some good numbers for the Vikings with 12 kills and three aces but it wasn’t nearly enough to derail the top seed.
“I thought we played a good match,” Takahashi said. “We just gave them too many runs and we had too many unforced errors at inopportune times. Then we couldn’t stop them. They have a really good, efficient offense.”
Pleasant Grove put up a good fight in the first set, despite falling behind 6-1 in the early going. The Vikings closed to within two, 11-9 after a couple of Mitchell kills but Woods Cross surged to a 15-9 lead after a pair of aces by Sarah Robison. Pleasant Grove rallied and a 4-0 run, with an ace from Brown and a combo block from Nelson and Marley McCandless, pushed the Vikings into an 18-17 lead.
Woods Cross tied it up at 19-all and a series of PG errors allowed the No. 1 seed to go up 23-19. A Vaea kill brought the Vikings to within one at 24-23, but Poulton blasted away at set point for the Woods Cross winner.
Set 2 was tied at 10 when Poulton fired off a couple of kills in a 4-0 run for a 14-10 Wildcats advantage. Woods Cross was never headed and won 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Wildcats controlled Set 3 early and led 10-3 after an ace from Zamari Christensen and maintained at least a five-point lead the rest of the way. Poulton powered her swing through the block for the 25-18 victory and the match.
