High school volleyball: Vikings roll to another impressive victory

PLEASANT GROVE — With only one match remaining in possibly the toughest region in Utah, the Pleasant Grove volleyball team racked up yet another victory and an 11-0 record.

The No. 1 Vikings' second Region 4 match against the state's No. 2 Brighton Bengals didn't quite have the intensity that their five-game match generated earlier in the season, but that didn't mean the 25-12, 25-22, 25-21 victory by Pleasant Grove didn't produce some truly exciting volleyball.

The Vikings were just that strong and just that dominant against the state's No. 2 squad, as for quite some time, it seemed Pleasant Grove just couldn't do anything wrong.

It wasn't that the Bengals were playing poorly in the first game, but the Vikings were playing at such a high level that they'd most likely have taken out any team in the state.

The defense was stellar as the Vikings were picking up amazing digs and putting up a scary block that didn't allow the Bengals to get much down through the entire first game. Brighton managed only six kills in Game 1 to Pleasant Grove's 16. But the Bengals' defense wasn't just laying down and dying, either.

"We scouted them. We were prepared and we stuck to our game plan. I'm so proud of the way we played all-around with the sets, the choices we were making and the defense. Our team played solid and scrappy, and we were ready to run stuff down," said Pleasant Grove coach Jamie Schapper.

And though the Vikings didn't quite keep up their dominance from the first game throughout the match, they played at a high level throughout, a level that would leave all of their possible state tournament foes shaking with thoughts of playing them.

"We still have to work hard. I don't want to overwork them this next week, but I want to be prepared," Schapper said about working toward the state tournament, where the Vikings have clinched the top spot from Region 4.

But though the state tournament will provide the Vikings some new looks in the tournament from some very solid teams, Region 4 action definitely prepared all four of its tourney-bound teams for tough matches at state in a week and a half.

"It's a huge accomplishment for any team to take over in this region. It's tough, but I think we've proven we're supposed to be undefeated so far," said Schapper, whose team still has to play American Fork before its region season comes to a close.