FOUNTAIN – Alex Garcia switched sides, yet the moment followed him.
On the verge of winning the Class 5A boys volleyball state championship, the Grandview junior outside hitter delivered. The Wolves claimed their first volleyball title as they knocked off defending champion Eaglecrest 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21 on Saturday at Trojan Arena in Fountain.
Garcia’s soaring kill from the left side deflected off an Eaglecrest player for a 23-19 lead in the decisive fourth set. Moments later, from the right side, he rose high above the net and sent a missile to the middle of the floor that went unreturned to set up match point.
After the Raptors answered with two straight points, a Devan Hall pass sailed from right to left as Garcia gathered for one final swing. His last kill handed Eaglecrest (28-1 overall) its first loss of the season and made history for the Wolves (22-7).
“In those moments, yes of course,” said Garcia when asked if the ball needed to find him late in the match. “But Devan [Hall] is just setting the ball perfectly. I can’t give him enough props. He found me great all day and gave me the best all day.”
In the fifth matchup between the teams, it was Grandview that finally got over the hump against Eaglecrest. The Raptors beat the Wolves by two points in the fifth set of the Centennial League championship match. Eaglecrest knocked off Grandview 3-1 earlier Saturday.
Yet first-year Grandview coach Jaren Graham said the Wolves knew they “would beat Eaglecrest when it matters most.”
The Raptors didn’t lead in the first two sets of the championship match, as the Wolves remained true to their game plan to go big and take risks when serving.
“We’ve always preached tough serving on our team that can be high error but can also mean great execution,” Graham said. “We want to be aggressive and take risks. Eaglecrest sides out at 90% anyway.
“So we are OK with misses, knowing they would have gotten a swing anyway. So we think rip away and let’s try and set up our defense by getting them out of their system a little bit.”
In the first set, Grandview opened up a 14-9 lead. Set two featured more of the same as an ace on Creed Kingsbury’s serve led to an 11-7 advantage. While the Raptors pulled even in both sets, the Wolves attack, led by Garcia, Connor Deickman and Luke Chavez proved to be too much.
“Our service pressure plays a huge part in that,” Garcia said. “Getting them two and one passes and forcing them to swing high balls to their attackers was key. They are great players and can score on them, but it just makes things harder.”
Even as the Raptors started to find their stride in the third set, Kingsbury’s ability to keep plays alive with dig after dig from the libero position forced Eaglecrest to battle for each point.
As a freshman on a veteran team, Kingsbury said he sharpened his skills quickly to adjust to the high school game.
“I had to work a lot at being balanced,” Kingsbury said. “I used to be able to get away with moving a lot because I was quick and could move the ball but in high school against great teams you can’t move as much. My coaches worked with me to stay balanced so I could dig the ball really well to my left or right.”
And those digs led to the big swings from Garcia, who had grown tired of walking off the court after a loss to the Cherry Creek School District rival Raptors.
“Heck no, I didn’t want to lose to them for a fifth time,” Garcia said. “That team is very good. Very talented. They have all the tools to win a state championship. But it just wasn’t their day. It was Grandview’s.”
No matter what side of the floor Garcia lines up on next, he’ll do so as a state champion.
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
