6A Girls Volleyball: Lone Peak, Corner Canyon set up state semifinal showdown
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- Cree Cooper (2) and her Lone Peak girls volleyball teammates celebrates a point in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess (3) takes a swing from the back row against Mountain Ridge in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Emmie Mahe (15) and Paisley Fuller of Skyridge rise up for a block against Weber in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak girls volleyball coach Kalee Faumui gives instructions during a match in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Emmie Mahe of Skyridge (15) takes a swing during the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess (left) passes the ball while teammate Luhanna Panta looks on in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Luhanna Panta serves the ball in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess takes a swing in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Ava Burgess takes a swing in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Lauren Adams (35) takes a swing in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- The Lone Peak girls volleyball team celebrates a point in the 6A Girls Volleyball State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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- The Skyridge girls volleyball team reacts to scoring a point during the 6A State Tournament at the UCCU Center on Monday, October 27, 2026.
Corner Canyon-Lone Peak Round 3 should be a good one.
Possibly a great one.
The Chargers (the No. 1 seed, 27-3) and the Knights (the No. 4 seed, 18-10) set their course in Tuesday’s Class 6A Girls Volleyball Tournament by winning twice on to advance to the semifinal round on Wednesday.
“I think that we are collectively as a team very focused because we’ve been we had the past two weeks with no games,” Lone Peak senior Ava Burgess said. “Wo we’ve kind of just been practicing very intentional and making sure that we are ready. We trust each other for state and I think that it showed these last two games just how we were competing with each other and like how good we did.”
The first time the two teams played in Region 3, Burgess — a Stanford commit — was not available due to playing in the USA volleyball system and injuries.
“Ava was on the USA U19 and U21 national teams,” Lone Peak coach Kalee Faumui said. “They won gold in the Pan Am Cup and in Nicaragua. She came back from Nicaragua with a little bit of a knee injury. So we sat her for a little bit.”
When Burgess is available, she is pretty dynamic: On Oct. 3, she logged a stunning 40 kills (on 76 swings) in a 3-2 loss to 4A’s top team, Orem.
On Tuesday, Burgess led the Knights with 21 kills and added 14 digs in a 3-1 (25-10, 25-18, 18-25, 25-14) victory against No. 5 Mountain Ridge in the quarterfinals.
“It’s very nice to have her back,” Faumui said. “She’s definitely a game changer.”
After winning the first two sets, Lone Peak struggled against Mountain Ridge’s renewed service pressure in Set 3. The fourth set was tied at 7-7 when the Knights went on a 7-1 run, with an ace from Cree Cooper, a kill from Burgess and another swing from Maisie White pushing them to a 14-8 advantage.
“I think our whole demeanor changed,” Faumui said. “Our intensity picked up a little bit, and we started going after balls that we were letting drop in that one set.”
Burgess picked up a pair of kills and teamed up with Lauren Adams for a block as Lone Peak extended its lead to 17-10. The same two players had a combo block to make the score 21-11 and White tooled her swing off the block for the match winner.
“I think after the third set we were just like, ‘OK, we’re fine,'” Burgess said. “We were not overthinking it. I think we were just like, ‘OK, we got this.’ We touch each other and we just bounced back.”
Sophomore Chevelle Peters added 12 kills for the Knights and Cooper had 10.
Ever-present senior libero Luhanna Panta finished with 21 digs and junior setter
Bella Snow ran the offense with 56 assists.
Last year, Corner Canyon won the 6A state title. Lone Peak, which has claimed 13 gold trophies in its history, was knocked off in the quarterfinals by Syracuse.
During Region 3 play this season, the Chargers won the first meeting in a sweep (26-24, 25-15, 25-10) and the Knights became the only Utah team to beat Corner Canyon this season, winning in four sets (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18) with Burgess totaling 30 kills on Oct. 13
“Obviously, Corner Canyon is a great team,” Burgess said. “They have great players, but I think if we play like we did today, just do our jobs and make sure we believe in each other, it will be a good game and we have a shot.”
Faumui added: “I think that it’s going to be a dogfight between both of us. We’ve got big people in the front row on both sides, so it’s just who can manage who quicker.”
6A Day 1
It’ll be an all-Region 3 semifinal round with all four teams advancing from that region.
In quarterfinal action, No. 6 American Fork pulled off a major upset by shocking No. 3 Syracuse 3-1. The Cavemen won the first two sets (25-16, 25-22) but the Titans rallied for a win in Set 3 (25-16). The fourth set went down to the wire, with AF taking a 24-22 lead. Syracuse fought off match point once but at 25-24, Eleni Lisonbee fired off a clutch ace for the four-set Cavemen win.
American Fork (17-11) will face fellow Region 3 foe Skyridge (24-6) in the semifinals. The No. 2 seed Falcons made short work of No. 7 Weber with a sweep in the quarterfinals (25-15, 25-14, 25-12).
In Region 3 play, Skyridge won both matches with the Cavemen (3-0, 3-1).
Earlier in the day’s first round, Corner Canyon swept No. 16 Cedar Valley (25-10, 25-14, 25-16) and Lone Peak topped No. 13 Layton 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-18).
No. 2 seed Skyridge had no trouble getting past No. 15 Riverton, winning in straight sets (25-13, 25-16, 25-11). No. 10 seed Lehi pushed No. 7 Weber to five sets before losing (25-20, 17-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9), No. 14 Westlake was swept by No. 3 Syracuse (25-17, 25-10, 25-17) and No. 6 American Fork battled past No. 11 Farmington 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19).
