AURORA – A year ago, Discovery Canyon High School won the state boys volleyball title and didn’t lose a set during the season.
But to defend the state title, the Thunder had to put together a squad that was minus eight seniors who graduated in 2022.
Not a problem.
The Thunder beat Eaglecrest 25-21, 16-25, 25-17, 25-18 in the state final at Overland High School on May 13. Brady Dastrup recorded 14 kills for DCHS. Colton Green added nine, including five in the fourth set. Jackson Shaw led the Raptors with 10 kills. Logan Taylor was close behind with nine.
“We have a new team. This is not the team from last year,” Green said. “We had to fight. We had to gain our name.”
The Thunder (27-1) and the Raptors (20-10) played the first set on even terms. Shaw served up an ace as part of a four-point rally in the second set to help EHS tie the match at a set apiece.
“The coaches all kicked in (after the second set) and gave us the motivation we needed,” Dastrup said.
“One of the things we’ve worked on is being relaxed and being focused on our game,” said Thunder coach Wayne Wetherby. “When they started to push us and when I called timeout, I told them we had to play our game, that they were better at playing their game than we were. When we started playing our game, you saw the switch in the momentum.”
The Thunder responded by going to the power game in the third and fourth sets. Five of DCHS’ first six [points in the third set were the result of spikes at the net. Eleven of the 25 points came off kills at the net. Ty Heater added an ace.
The fourth set belonged to the Thunder. DCHS scored six of seven points early in the set, most of which was the result of strong play at the net. Heater added a block during that surge, as did Jason Hamel.
Dastrup knew what worked.
“We had a lot of team communication,” he said. “When one of us made a mistake, we all gathered around and helped him up. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, and when that happens, some people are quick to notice that and get up on that.”
Green said maintaining confidence was a factor in the Thunder’s win.
“We weren’t afraid of the fact we were in the state championship match,” he said. “We stayed confident and stayed level-headed.”
The teams played earlier in the day May 13, and the Thunder prevailed in five sets. Dastrup said that was a help for the state title contest.
“It helped us with our confidence knowing we can beat them and that we had the skills to beat them,” he said. “If anything, (playing Eaglecrest earlier in the day) took the pressure off.”
“We knew their ins and outs,” Green said. “We knew they were tired, so we took advantage of that.”
“Going through the winner’s bracket definitely is a benefit,” Wetherby said. “You go through the consolation bracket, you get those extra matches you have to play. It helped us in sets 3 and 4. They started to fade a little bit, which helped us out a lot.”
“It’s a tough win. It was fun. It was a good win,” Dastrup said. “I love my team. I love playing with them. I love being with them. It’s just such a fun team.”
“We’ve been expecting this. It’s been a goal since the beginning of the season. It’s nice to make it real,” Dastrup said.
Despite the revamped roster, Wetherby thought he had a strong enough team to get back to the state tournament
“I didn’t know if we could put it together and make another run at another state title,” he said. “It’s a little bit of a surprise. As we got into it, I felt more comfortable about it, that we were going to take it.”
“It’s a speechless feeling. It’s incredible to be here to say we’re No. 1 in the state,” Green said. “We came into this tournament hoping for the best. We were confident. Now that it’s here, it’s just surreal.”
