5A Boys Volleyball: Eaglecrest Wins It’s First Boys Volleyball State Title

FOUNTAIN – The Eaglecrest boys volleyball program has been successful since serve one of the first sanctioned season, but winning a state championship had thus far been elusive.

The Raptors finally chased that down Saturday night at Trojan Arena, as they overcame nemesis and Centennial League rival Littleton Public Schools — who they played for a second time on the final day — for a thrilling 19-25, 25-23, 25-19, 27-25 victory.

Eaglecrest had been building towards a title and it finally came on the efforts of a veteran group that laid everything on the line to get it done.

“Even when things were going well, I just wanted to think about how we were performing,” said Eaglecrest coach Chad Bond, whose team finished 25-5. “I’ll probably be sitting around on my couch tomorrow and think ‘wow, this solidifies all the hard work we’ve put in over the years. Those guys came into my gym four years ago playing volleyball for the first time and now they are leaving as state champions.”

The Raptors had come close to reaching the mountaintop in 2023 when they advanced to the state championship match, but lost in four sets to Discovery Canyon, a co-op program that was the powerhouse for the first two years of the sport.

A 1-2 showing last season — where it was eliminated by the same LPS program in the consolation bracket — again left Eaglecrest shy of a title. Bringing one home this season seemed possible, but the journey included significant adversity, especially when it came to injuries.

The opponent that also loomed in the Raptors’ way was LPS, which defeated them in five sets during Centennial League regular season play, swept them in the Centennial League Challenge final to claim the league title and dealt them a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 defeat in a championship semifinal. In total, LPS (a co-op of players from Arapahoe and Heritage) had won the past five matches between the teams dating back to the 2022-23 season.

Eaglecrest’s brand of all-out defense coupled with its never-say-die attitude and plenty of talent eventually brought it through to the championship.

The Raptors watched LPS roll to a six-point win in the opening set, but unlike previous matches, they turned the momentum in their favor and held it the rest of the way.

Led by the attacks of senior Jackson Shaw, junior Ashton Bond and a variety of others, Eaglecrest was able to hold on to leads in the second and third set to take the advantage.

“We just had to move on to the next point, no matter what happens,” Bond said. “Our guys could not have shown that attitude any better than they just did. It was amazing.”

Not going out quietly, LPS had set point in its quest to push the match to a deciding fifth set, but a successful tip by sophomore Will George evened the match. Senior Ethan Levakin then put Eaglecrest in front and a wide attack on match point sent a swarm of Raptors into the center of the court in two big dogpiles.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” said Shaw, who along with fellow senior Matthew Dye was on the roster for the 2023 state runner-up team. “We battled through adversity, through injuries the whole season. We stuck with the game plan and it worked out.”