Deep Lone Peak boys volleyball representing Utah well
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- Lone Peak boys volleyball players celebrate a point during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Skyridge on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Lone Peak boys volleyball coach Cecil Read (center) talks to his team in a time out during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Skyridge on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Kilika Tafa digs a ball during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Skyridge on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Trevor Allen (19) serves during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Skyridge on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Trey Mahe (11) and his Skyridge teammates celebrate a point during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Lone Peak on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Christian Fatialofa (9) of Skyridge sets a ball during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Lone Peak on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Lucky Jennings sets the ball during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Skyridge on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Mason Green takes a swing during a Region 3 boys volleyball match against Skyridge on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
When Lone Peak was invited to the prestigious Best of the West Boys Volleyball Invitational in California, expectations from the organizers of the event were … low.
“I think it was important for a Utah team to go down there and play,” Knights head coach Cecil Read said. “That was a big deal. They said, ‘Would you be super offended if you went oh-and-6?’ I said, ‘No, I think we’re good enough to compete.'”
Lone Peak did lose its first four matches in the event, which is in its 19th year and was held March 6-7 in Poway, Calif. The Knights won two on the second day to finish 2-4. For a state that is trying to grow the game — high school boys volleyball is beginning its third season in Utah — it was a good showing against some of the top teams in the country.
“They invite pretty much the best of southern California,” Read said. “They invited one team from Utah, one Arizona team and four or five from Hawaii. We didn’t play anybody outside the top 45 in the country down there (on the first day). The teams we lost to, pretty much every team right now is located inside the Top 14 in the country. So it was a super, super high level of volleyball and really pushed the boys skill-set wise and really made them focus on the important things.”
Lone Peak lost all four matches on Day 1 against LaJolla Bishop’s (No. 7 in MaxPreps), San Jose Bellarmine College Prep (No. 9), Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro (No. 14) and San Clemente (No. 39).
“I actually think that we could have competed with all of those teams with a full roster,” Read said. “We had some kids that were transfers, and a couple kids with some grade things or whatever we had going on. But when you have a level of play down there, you want all your weapons. I think with all of our weapons, we could have competed and probably done really, really well.”
The Knights fared much better on Day 2, beating No. 318 San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep 2-0 and No. 62 Clovis Buchanan 2-0.
“So in the second day, we found a little more comfort, and we won both those matches against some really good teams,” Read said.
Junior pin hitter Brady Holt said he and his teammates learned a lot from their experience in California.
“We knew it was going to be heavy competition,” Holt said. “We knew we’d probably get wrecked somewhat. We didn’t think we were going to get wrecked that much. But it was great for us because it humbled us, and we learned what level we could play at.
Read added, “They have the top one through six teams in the country with a million kids that are recruited by D1 volleyball and just absolute ballers. I think we left an impression. We asked to be invited back next year. We haven’t gotten the invite yet, but I’m pretty sure we represented well out of Utah. I would say there’s probably four schools (in Utah) that can compete at that level, and it’s really important for at least one school to go to these big national tournaments every year.”
Wasatch is the highest rated Utah team in the current MaxPrep rankings at No. 25, with Lone Peak at No. 32 and Lehi No. 34. Bountiful (45), Bingham (60) and Maple Mountain (63) are also within the Top 100.
“Maple Mountain (with two-time Utah Player of the Year Trey Thornton, now at BYU) went to Austin last year and took second,” Read said. “So when we got to California, they knew who Maple Mountain was. They wanted Bingham to come down. They knew that Bingham won the state championship last year and had a lot of returning players. They knew all about that. So I would say right now, I think Utah is doing a phenomenal job of being represented and playing hard.”
Lone Peak (13-5 overall) lost to Wasatch 3-0 after returning to Utah but beat Lehi 3-1 and Maple Mountain twice. The Knights won their seventh match in a row on Tuesday, sweeping Skyridge (25-20, 25-14, 25-10) to move to 2-0 in Region 3 play.
The first set was tied at 8-8 after a kill from the Falcons’ Trey Mahe and a Lone Peak error. But the Knights took control after that and won 25-20 on a kill from Kilika Tafa.
Lone Peak started off Set 2 with a 5-0 lead and made it 10-2 after a block from Camden Broadhead, a kill from Mason Green and a kill from Broadhead. An attack from Tafa gave the Knights a 16-7 lead and Lone Peak won 25-14.
The Knights took an 11-4 advantage in Set 3 on a Green kill and it was 17-8 when Freddy Dayton went down the line with an attack. A Sam Hansen kill and an ace from Thomas Herget pushed the Lone Peak lead to 21-8 and Broadhead’s block was the winner at 25-10.
The Knights are probably the deepest team in the state with the addition of the high-flying Tafa, a Westlake transfer who had 326 kills last season, a senior setter Lucky Jennings, who helped lead Orem to a 4A title in 2025. Lone Peak also added Herget, a Connecticut move-in and the younger brother of BYU volleyball standouts Trevor and Tyler Herget, to the roster.
The Knights have Holt, a three-year starter who leads the team in kills with 148, and some size in 6-foot-9 Blake Hemstreet and the 6-10 Broadhead, along with William and Freddy Dayton, who play setter and outside hitter, respectively.
“We’re super deep,” Read said. “The thing about our team is that these boys all work really hard, and we don’t really practice with a starting rotation. We let them all get time at those spots, so it’s pretty natural for them to feel comfortable in the situation like tonight. Skyridge hasn’t played a ton of matches, so we are able to impose our will a little bit. They’ll get better. But for us, the big thing is just making sure the boys are comfortable in any rotation, any setting. We actually ran a five-one (offense), the a six-two. We flipped the six two to the other way. We had different people in at every position tonight.”
The depth also provides for high level of play in practices.
“It’s really intense,” Holt said. I mean, no one is letting you slack off. If you’re slacking off, they’re getting mad at you. It’s really competitive. We really have strong team bonds.”
After their performance in California, the Knights would have to be considered one of the favorites to compete for the 6A state title in May.
“Going in (to the Best of the West event) I think we were pretty confident,” Read said. “The teams were great. We were actually one of the bigger teams there, so that gives you a little self confidence. I think we’re really, really talented.”
