PLEASANT GROVE — Two of the biggest rivals in Utah high school volleyball's last decade took to the courts again Tuesday night in a typical Region 4 battle.

Usually Pleasant Grove and Lone Peak are right in the thick of a battle between themselves for the region trophy and many times the state trophy as well. But this year, Region 4 has changed a little, and in addition to Lone Peak having a bit of a down year so far, the Brighton Bengals are coming on strong.

Though the games were all highly competitive throughout the night between these two teams, the Vikings were able to top the Knights in three straight 28-26, 25-21, 25-21.

With the loss, the Knights fell to 4-3 in region action, while the Vikings continued to roll with a 7-0 region record with high hopes of maintaining their unblemished record all season long. Brighton stands in second place in Region 4 between the Vikings and the Knights.

"It is definitely our goal to go undefeated in conference. But the teams in our conference are so good that any team in the conference can step into a gym and beat anyone else," said Pleasant Grove coach Jamie Schapper after the Knights gave her team a real scare, especially in the first game..

Lone Peak came out strong with plenty to prove in the first game and rushed out to a 12-8 lead and then a 21-16 lead before allowing the Vikings to pull themselves back into things. Pleasant Grove then went on a 6-0 run to take a 22-21 lead on Lone Peak, and the two teams battled through eight ties and four match points before the Vikings finally finished the first game off in their favor.

Chloe Jarema put down a kill to give the Knights a 26-25 game point, but Pleasant Grove's Jennifer Hamson torpedoed a kill of her own to even it up before the Knights committed a rotation violation and an error to give Pleasant Grove the first game.

The Knights then went out to a bit of an advantage with a 10-6 lead in Game 2 before the Vikings really came to life and started playing lights out volleyball.

From there the two teams fought through nine ties before the Vikings stormed past, winning five of the last six points of the game for the two game lead.

"The girls just understood what was going on on the other side. They picked up on the other team's tendencies and adjusted well. They decided to go all out and not let a ball hit the floor; to give 110 percent," said Schapper after her team started to take charge midway through the second.

The Vikings were passing incredibly well on a tough serving Knight team, and after a few service errors in the first two games, they finished off with four aces and no errors in the final game.

Danica Mendivil led the Vikings with 11 kills and eight digs, giving her coach cause to note that she was a huge key to the Vikings' success on the night. Hamson finished with 10 kills, and Kemi McFarland added nine kills in the match.

"Kemi was being smart in terms of choices. She's really started stepping into a leadership role," said Schapper.

Kim Dahl added six service aces, and the setters finished with a combined 20 assists.

Ashlan Rogers and Jarema finished with eight kills apiece to lead the Knights offensively. Cami Richan added seven kills, four of them in the final game.

e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com