High school volleyball: Pleasant Grove earns volleyball tourney title

HIGHLAND — Pleasant Grove fought its way through the toughest Asics Rocky Mountain Champions' Classic tournament ever and emerged victorious in the end.

Though even the Vikings joined the rest of the teams in losing a match, they finished things off strong with easy victories over Layton and Bonneville, Idaho to take away the championship of the gold medal rounds.

Nonetheless, it wasn't as easy a road for the Vikings as many thought it might be. Though Pleasant Grove came into this tournament ranked No. 2 and the host Lone Peak Knights entered with the top ranking in the state, things did not go as planned to see a meeting between the two in the championship match.

Lone Peak lost twice in the first day, to No. 13 Layton and to No. 5 Brighton, leaving them no chance to fight for the gold medal. Then Pleasant Grove made things a lot tougher on itself by losing to an unheralded Taylorsville squad that proved itself quite capable of playing in the big leagues throughout the Classic.

The Warriors came in ranked No. 9 in the state and came away with the knowledge that they should be able to play with any of the teams ranked above them, even the vaunted Vikings.

"I think many different teams can step up and beat good teams. It's nice to be able to see a whole bunch of talent across the state wherever you go," said Pleasant Grove coach Jamie Schapper after watching her team fight its way through tough battles throughout the day.

"I love this tournament. It's fun to get to see teams that we don't normally get to see," added Pleasant Grove senior and Arizona State signee Danica Mendivil, who led the Vikings with 13 kills in the final 25-18, 25-19 match against Bonneville.

The star has been happy to share the limelight this year with players like Kim Dahl, who finished that match with seven kills and three blocks, and Jen Hamson, who added five kills and two blocks in the quick two-game match. Rae Mulitalo and Kemi McFarland finished with a combined 27 assists as the Vikings really put their game together well to dispatch the team from Idaho.

But all was not good news at the end as Pleasant Grove middle Melissa Rider went down midway through the match against the Warriors with a shoulder injury and is expected to miss up to two to four weeks before being able to return. This will take a huge chunk out of the region season. But the Vikings have plenty of players to turn to with their tremendous depth.

"It's nice to have so much depth. It gives all the girls a chance to be awesome. When they're on we just go to them," said Schapper about her star-laden team.