Two local programs enter the 2026 girls volleyball season with targets on their backs.

Lone Peak landed at No. 2 and Skyridge at No. 3 in the Deseret News preseason coaches poll for Class 6A, published Sunday, Aug. 2. Defending state champion Corner Canyon holds the top spot after winning its first-ever title last fall.

The full 6A top five: Corner Canyon (25-6 in 2025), Lone Peak (19-11), Skyridge (27-3), Mountain Ridge (27-5), and Syracuse (21-9). Bingham and American Fork also received multiple votes.

Skyridge: rebuilding after a title-game loss

The Falcons posted the best record in 6A last season but fell to Corner Canyon 3-1 in the state championship match on Oct. 30, 2025, at the UCCU Center in Orem. Head coach Tayler Hifo, a former BYU setter now entering her second season leading the program, saw her team run into a Chargers squad that piled up 12.5 team blocks in the final.

"I think we were just playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We were swinging a little timid," Hifo said after the championship loss in October 2025.

The challenge entering 2026 is clear. Skyridge graduated its three most important players: BYU-bound outside hitter Kylie Buttars (16 kills in the championship), fellow senior Haydn Smith, and setter Lily Grant. No returning starters have been publicly identified, leaving the Falcons' roster one of the preseason's biggest question marks.

Skyridge opens Tuesday, Aug. 11, at home against West at 6:30 p.m., then travels to Pleasant Grove on Thursday, Aug. 13, and to No. 4 Mountain Ridge on Thursday, Aug. 20.

Lone Peak: Burgess headlines a rising Knights squad

The Knights earned the No. 4 seed in last year's state tournament before Syracuse ended their run in the quarterfinals. A jump from 19-11 to the No. 2 preseason ranking signals coaches across the state expect a leap.

One reason: 6-foot-2 outside hitter Ava Burgess. The Lehi native was named to both the 2026 USA Volleyball Women's U19 NORCECA Continental Championship roster and the U23 Pan American Cup roster, announced July 16. She is one of the state's most physically imposing attackers entering her junior year at Lone Peak.

The team to beat

Corner Canyon returns first-team all-state setter Nafanua Alofipo and the bulk of its championship roster. The Chargers finished second in Region 3 during the regular season last year but peaked at the right time, sweeping through the bracket as the No. 2 seed.

Skyridge and Corner Canyon split their two Region 3 meetings in 2025, setting up what could be another collision course this fall.

What's next

Skyridge hosts West on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 6:30 p.m. Lone Peak's opener has not been confirmed through a primary schedule source. The Lehi Pioneers also open Aug. 11, hosting Westlake at 6:30 p.m.