OREM — All Lehi volleyball coach Jamie Ingersoll wanted was a shot.
A shot, at the end of each set, for the Pioneers to get to 25 points first. A shot, at the end of the match, to string three victories together. And a shot, at the end of the night, to do something Lehi had failed to do each of the last three times the Pioneers met Region 4 foe Pleasant Grove: Return home with a win.
Lehi gave its coach exactly what she asked for on Saturday night, winning the 5A state title in dramatic fashion over the three-time defending state champion Vikings, 3-1 — 25-20, 26-24, 25-27, 25-23.
"I told the kids if we had composure and we stayed with them, we'd give ourselves a shot — and all you can do is ask for a shot," Ingersoll said after accepting the championship trophy. "They had it, and they sealed the deal."
It was just about a year ago in the same UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University that Pleasant Grove defeated Lehi 3-1 for its third consecutive championship. From there, in spite of losing one of their most dominant players to a knee injury before the season even began, the Vikings rolled, losing just one match, sweeping 11 foes, and defeating Lehi 3-1 and then 3-2 in Region 4 play.
Meanwhile, Lehi was winning and growing, hoping and preparing for another chance against Pleasant Grove and it's front line of 6-foot-6 junior Sara Hamson and 6-foot-5 junior Malli Valgardson.
"We've played each other so often, we know each other so well," Ingersoll said of the rematch. "Sara is so good, we knew she was going to get kills. But we just wanted to slow her down."
The Pioneers managed to slow down the Pleasant Grove attack and alter the timing by coming out aggressive and mixing up their approaches. In each of the three sets Lehi won, the Pioneers struck first and then maintained a lead for much of the set, often by leaning on shorter sets as well as strong serving.
"I think the strong starts is what helped us most to get that momentum," said senior libero Sydney White. "(Pleasant Grove) had the momentum going in after beating us twice (during the regular season), but I think starting ahead really helped us keep with them the entire match."
After securing victories in the first two sets, the Pioneers were poised to walk away with a sweep. The Vikings, however, would not go down without a fight, rallying late in the third set to force a fourth. Once there, the teams went back-and-forth before Lehi ultimately pulled away with a late lead and Pleasant Grove could not recover.
"We were on top and we dropped that game, but we came right back — and we're pretty good at bouncing back from losses," White said. "I really believed in our team."
She added that, in spite of the expectations and the rankings and the previous matchups, her team had just as good a chance at winning as Pleasant Grove did.
"I think on any given day anybody can come and pull through, and I just think it's who's hot during this tournament."
White, who had 15 digs, led the team statistically and emotionally in the championship match.
"Syd White is so gutsy," Ingersoll said of the 5-foot-4 senior. "She just doesn't let any ball drop. She's got so much heart on that court. I couldn't be more proud of her."
Ingersoll had similar sentiments about Rylin Roberts, a 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter who led the Pioneers with 18 kills and seven aces.
"Rylin was going to go down swinging, she was going to be aggressive. She's our leader, she's our guts on the court."
Junior Faith Crabb had six blocks and senior Rachel Richards had 39 assists for Lehi.
"This is just awesome. I am so happy," Ingersoll said. "These kids, this student body, they have supported us for so long. We've been here before and I'm so happy we could give them this championship."
sthomas@desnews.com
Sarah Thomas earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Utah and is currently pursuing an MBA at Westminster College. She has been covering sports for the Deseret News since 2008.