High school girls volleyball: Ava Burgess leads Lone Peak past Pleasant Grove for 5th consecutive 6A title

It’s been nothing but pure dominance from Lone Peak for most of the past decade.

The Knights have won a state championship every year since 2016 with the exception of 2019 and once again added some hardware to their loaded shelf Friday, as they beat Region 3 foe Pleasant Grove 25-19, 25-18, 14-25, 25-20 for their fifth consecutive 6A championship.

Lone Peak rolled out a new coaching staff this season, with Matthew Moeai taking over as head coach. Under Moeai, the Knights finished with a 29-3 record, capped by the championship.

“It always feels special, but it’s a different group and it’s a different coaching staff, so it’s even it’s that much more special,” Moeai said.

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Lone Peak’s day was almost cut short before the title game as it trailed 0-2 against Mountain Ridge in the semifinal. The Knights rallied back to beat Mountain Ridge and earn a spot in the 6A championship.

Moeai said it was great preparation for the final.

“I think it prepared us to play a tougher match,” said Moeai. “I think we had a more difficult route, but I would rather be matched up with with the harder schools so that we can match up to one of the best schools.”

Lone Peak carried its momentum into the final and did not allow Pleasant Grove to find a strong rhythm in the first two sets, cruising to 25-19 and 25-18 consecutive set wins.

Knights star outside hitter Ava Burgess attacked early, totaling five kills in the first set and seven kills in the second. The Knights had no issues setting the pace and forced the Vikings to play on their back foot.

However, the tides started to shift after the second set. Pleasant Grove previously had trouble getting into a groove offensively because the Lone Peak attack was so relentless, but the Vikings’ front line made things much tougher on the Lone Peak hitters and had four early blocks to take a 12-2 set 3 lead.

Pleasant Grove continued to roll from there and finished off the set, 25-14.

“(Pleasant Grove) is a phenomenal team and they know us better than anyone,” said Moeai. “Player for player, they match up with us in every single way. I think they they caught us, they made us a little vulnerable, made us uncomfortable, but (we went) back to our plan, our first plan.”

The fourth set was the closest of the night, but Lone Peak took it 25-20 thanks to four kills from Burgess and a more spread out offense. Knights libero Luhana Panta shored up the defense with 19 digs.

Ava’s older sister Zoey Burgess was the recipient of Ms. Volleyball in 2023, but as a sophomore, Ava is already making her own mark on this Lone Peak team.

“I think my sister was a really big part of last year, and it just pushed me to just be like her,” Ava said. “It pushed me to the next level and (our) new coaching staff definitely pushed me to be better, and all my teammates, too. We’re just working together.”