FOUNTAIN – Every ounce of heartbreak that Gavin Henderson has felt this season went into his championship point kill. The Lutheran senior has been through the wringer this year. The boys volleyball team had its struggles and the loss of his father weighed heavy.

But a moment like that, family heartbreak, can lead to a powerful team bond.

As the No. 7 seed in the Class 4A boys volleyball tournament, the Lions rallied around their senior leader and rolled to a 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 sweep over No. 1 D’Evelyn to claim the first state championship in program history.

“That final kill was full of joy,” Henderson said. “We earned it and we fought for it. We upset the first, second and third seed and just an underdog mentality all the way through to the final point.”

It’s been quite a run for the Lions (15-12 overall). There came a time in the middle of the season that the playoffs in general, let alone the state tournament, seemed like a pipe dream. They went through a stretch of league play where they lost five of seven matches. They were dealt a competitive, but humbling sweep by Pueblo South on April 21. After that, they dropped just four total sets on the season.

“We had a long talk and we watched some film,” coach Nick Brown said. “We told them this is it. This is the competition you guys are going to seen and you’re going to have to step it up. They did, and it started with Gavin Henderson.”

The Lions beat D’Evelyn 3-1 earlier in the day. That one set that D’Evelyn took was the only set the Lutheran lost the entire state tournament. And when the Jags battled back to reach the championship match, the Lions were determined to not give an inch.

After a back-and-forth start in the first set, Lutheran pulled ahead and maintained the pace to go up 1-0.

The second start got off to an ideal start. Brennan Crysler blocked a D’Evelyn kill chance then followed it up with a kill of his own. Isaac Brown then rattled off three aces in four serves to get the Lions up 6-0.

The Jags battled back, eventually closing the gap to 12-11, but Crysler came up with a rally-ending kill and kept the Lions ahead. Each time D’Evelyn seemingly found momentum, Lutheran found a way to snatch it back.

“That boosted our confidence so much,” Isaac Brown said. “That was one of our weak points this season.”

Looking back on the year, the Lions can likely find several weak points they felt they had. But in late April, they turned a corner and good things started happening.

If anyone had told this team in early April that they’d be hoisting a state championship trophy, the players would have chalked it up as an April Fool’s joke.

“We didn’t think we were going to make the playoffs,” Nick Brown said. “We didn’t think we were making regionals. To get to this… I’m beyond words.”

He doesn’t need words. He has hardware.

And he gets to share it with a group of kids he wouldn’t trade anything for. And when he looks at someone like Gavin Henderson, a high school kid who battled through family tragedy and scored the championship point, every moment struggle was worth the championship result.

(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)