High school girls volleyball: Panguitch completes 3-peat with win over Rich to claim 1A championship

In a rematch of the 1A state championship from three years ago, Panguitch got the better of Rich on Saturday, winning the state 1A title in four sets, 29-27, 22-25, 25-20, and 25-11.

In 2022, Rich defeated Panguitch in five sets, and this time Panguitch was able to return the favor. With the win, this now gives Panguitch a three-peat, as it won the championship in 2023 and 2024 after coming up short in 2022.

“It’s just fun to see the group come together, play as a team and know that they don’t have to do it by themselves,” said Panguitch head coach Troy Norris.

“We didn’t play our best game yesterday (in the semifinals), so it was fun to see them come in today and pull everything together as a team doing what they are capable of doing.”

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In the opening set, it was Rich which came sprinting out of the gate, as it led 6-2 early. Panguitch was able to ease into the game though, eventually tying the set up at 13-13.

The teams went back and forth throughout majority of the set, with Rich taking the lead once again at 18-17 before Panguitch tied things up at 21 all before eventually going on to take the opener.

The second set proved to be almost a carbon copy of the first, with Rich once again sprinting out to grab the early lead at 10-4. Panguitch once again battled back to take a 12-11 lead before Rich went on a run itself to finish out the set and even up the match.

Panguitch stayed true to itself, continuing to make good and crucial passes that made things difficult for Rich as the match went on. Rich ran out of steam in the fourth set, with Panguitch running away with the victory on its way to a third consecutive championship.

“We just knew we needed to continue to serve and pass extremely well,” Norris said. “When you do that, it makes your offense run a lot easier.

“Because we were able to pass so well, we were able to do different things, which made it so the other team didn’t know what we’re doing as much.”

Aside from region action, Panguitch did not play a single 1A team throughout the season, instead pitting itself against higher competition from 2A, 3A and 4A.

Norris believes giving his young team that experience helped prepare it for the competition it would eventually face in the state tournament and ultimately come out victorious.

“We were able to hold our own throughout the whole season with the 2A, 3A and 4A teams,” Norris said. “Playing those competitive matches helped prepare us for this moment, because if you know you can play with anybody then you are able to come into this tournament and have a little more confidence.”