Eagles look for another state title on court

With their eyes on recapturing the 3A state title, Boulder City High School boys volleyball challenged themselves early with some stiff competition in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Finishing with a 2-4 record, the Eagles lost to three strong programs including 4A Desert Oasis, while picking up victories over 4A Silverado and 3A rival Moapa Valley.

“The Las Vegas Invitational was a great way for us to start our season off,” head coach Rachelle Huxford said. “We always try to challenge ourselves out of the gate and see what’s working early on and what we need to figure out. The first two teams we lost to, Servite and Gilbert, were close scores and both those teams made the gold bracket. I’m happy with how we played.”

Playing tough against stiff competition, the Eagles battled with Servite (Calif.) 25-21, 25-19, while falling to Gilbert North (Ariz.) 25-22, 25-13.

Rebounding with two nice victories, the Eagles defeated Silverado 25-14, 25-14 and Moapa Valley 25-19, 25-12.

“It felt nice to get a couple of victories to start the season,” Huxford said. “It’s always nice to beat your rival, whether in a tournament or league play. The rest of the 3A has gotten better in recent years and that’s why we play these big tournaments so we can evolve with these teams.”

Playing tough against 5A Desert Oasis, the Eagles fell 2-1, losing 22-25, 25-19, 10-15, while falling to El Dorado (Calif.) 2-0 on their last match of the tournament.

Looking to recapture the 3A state title after last season’s upset loss to rival Virgin Valley in the state championship, coach Huxford feels she has the right group to accomplish the job this time around.

“Every year we come in expecting to win a state championship,” Huxford said. “I really like this year’s group. We have a lot of experienced starters returning, with a good mixture of new players.”

Looking to make a key impact this season with be returnees David Zwahlen, Preston Van Beveren, Levi Randall and Gibson Lamoreaux.