(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Lone Peak Knights celebrate their win over the Pleasant Grove Vikings, for the 6A volleyball championship, at Utah Valley University, Saturday, November 4, 2017.
Orem • Lone Peak probably knew all along that beating Pleasant Grove just one more time would need to be accomplished to capture a second straight state title.
So what does it matter if the title match wraps up just moments from Sunday morning?
Lone Peak became the first champion in the new Class 6A classification by beating their Region 4 rivals 21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11.
Because earlier championship matches and consolation contests went long, the 6A finale ended just before midnight when a dink shot by the Knights’ Carli Berntson put an end to the marathon day.
“There’s no place I’d rather be than right here. It doesn’t even feel like midnight,” Lone Peak setter Jacquelyn Langhaim said while clutching the title trophy after she ran away from the celebrating throng on the floor of the UCCU Center.
“It just scared me when that crowd came,” Langhaim said.
Pleasant Grove (14-3), which lost a third consecutive championship match, opened with a first-set victory that included usual production from outside hitter Kazna Tarawhiti and middle blocker Heather Gneiting.
But the Vikings also got big points from right side Megan Sintay, who had a kill and a block for the Vikings’ last two points of the opener.
Lone Peak (19-1) did some damage from the right side itself in the second set. The Knights frequently moved powerful hitter Madi Robinson from the left to provide kills shots from the opposite side.
LONE PEAK 3, PLEASANT GROVE 2 <br>• Lone Peak wins its second straight championship by once again beating Pleasant Grove in the finale. <br>• Heather Gneiting leads the Vikings with 16 kills. <br>• Madi Robinson, who is headed to BYU like Gneiting, finishes with 18 kills for the Knights while teammate Tasia Farmer leads all players with 19.
Robinson’s kill from the right stopped a 6-0 run that had reduced Lone Peak’s lead to 16-15.
The third set featured a pair of scorching kills by Gneiting in the late stages as Pleasant Grove prevailed. Down 22-21, Gneiting slammed a kill to tie — a shot that kicked off a 4-1 run to finish the set.
A combo block by Gneiting and Tarawhiti sent the match into the fourth set with the Vikings up by one, but Robinson said the prospect of winning the last two sets still wasn’t daunting.
“We just weren’t very aggressive. Once we came out more aggressive, we were a lot calmer,” Robinson said. “We came out a little bit nervous, but when we were aggressive, we did a lot better.”
Up 23-20 in the fourth, Lone Peak forced the fifth when Robinson connected on a pair of kills.
Pleasant Grove led the final set 10-9 when a long Pleasant Grove dig went across the net and was slammed back for a point by the Knights’ Autumn Spafford. She repeated that a couple of points later as Lone Peak went up 13-9 — it’s largest lead in the set.
“I hate playing those guys, but I love playing those guys,” Lone Peak coach Reed Carlson said. “They’re just so good. That’s just good, high-quality volleyball that you’re seeing.”