FOUNTAIN - The fifth time was the charm for the Grandview boys volleyball team when it came to playing area rival Eaglecrest.
In the same season, the Raptors had gotten the better of the Wolves a whopping four times — including earlier in the day Saturday in the championship semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament — but the Wolves turned the tables in the one that really matter the most.
Powered by an experienced core that included senior setter Devan Hall and junior outside hitters Alex Garcia and Connor Deickman, the aggressive and third-seeded Wolves started and ended strong in an energy-filled 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-22 win over the previous undefeated and top-seeded Raptors at lively Trojan Arena.
“We played as a team, we trusted each other so much and we had every belief that we could win that game,” an emotional Hall said afterwards. “That’s exactly what we did. That was a whole team win, from the guys who were on the bench to the coaches to the fans. That is how we play Grandview volleyball.”
The first two meetings between the teams that sit just two miles away from each other in the Aurora area finished as sweeps for Eaglecrest, which took a 3-0 Centennial League regular season win and swept two sets in the Legend Tournament.
Grandview made some inroads in the Centennial League Challenge final April 25 as it took the Raptors to five sets and also went four in a close championship semifinal loss.
The last two meetings represented progress and the Wolves (who finished 23-7) took the final step by coming through in the key moments they needed to prevail.
“It takes incredible focus (to beat a team like that),” Garcia said. “We can’t worry about anything external and we just need to focus on our side of the court. We did everything we needed to do. I’m so happy we could this for our seniors.”
Added first-year Grandview head coach Jaren Graham: “Give so much credit to Eaglecrest. That team went undefeated and owned us in four games this year. That has to be credited. Chad (Eaglecrest coach Bond) did a great job with them and the players were fantastic. Hopefully this is the start of a little run for us.”
Grandview — which had to get past fifth-seeded Discovery Canyon in the consolation semifinals to earn a rematch with Eaglecrest — came out with unchecked aggression in the opening set and it paid off.
Buoyed by a boisterous crowd (the biggest of the season according to Deickman), the Wolves never trailed, built a lead as large as six points and then finished it off with a smoking ace off the hand of the big-hitting Garcia.
A tighter second set also went to Grandview on a big finish from Deickman and the Wolves were five points away from a sweep before the veteran Raptors — including senior Ashton Bond, who had 15 kills, plus junior Dallin Anderson, who had 13 — fought back to force a fourth set.
Grandview did not let its chance to finish slip away.
In the key moments of a back-and-forth decisive set, senior middle Camden Kuhn came up with a pivotal block and Garcia had a new of key putaways off and through Eaglecrest blocks. His last one sealed the program’s first title.
“There’s no way to put it in words and I didn’t know what it felt like,” said Graham, whose father Rob — Grandview’s girls coach — won a state title with the Ponderosa girls back in 2009. “I’ve always been on the other side of it, boys or girls, and I’ve related more with the losing team. I think I’m ready to relate more to the winning team now.”