Eagles recapture state crown

Back on the mountaintop, Boulder City High School boys volleyball recaptured the 3A state championship, defeating rival Moapa Valley, 3-0, on May 13.

Avenging last season’s loss, this put the Eagles back in dynasty territory, having claimed five of the last six 3A state championships.

“I’m very happy and ecstatic for the boys,” head coach Rachelle Huxford said. “They’ve worked really hard all season to get there. I don’t think I’ve ever had a team so focused. They remember how they felt after last season’s state championship loss and didn’t want a repeat of the year before.”

Leaving no doubt that they were the best team in the 3A, the Eagles clicked on all cylinders in the championship finale, defeating Moapa Valley 25-13, 25-23, 25-12.

“It did make it sweeter to beat Moapa in the finals,” Huxford said. “In the regular season they took a set off us, so this time around we didn’t want to give up a set. The boys played amazing and knew what we were going to get from them. We shut them down offensively. It was a great win.”

Showing up in his last game as an Eagle, David Zwalhen made a team-high 12 kills, while adding 13 digs and a block.

Preston VanBeveren filled the stat sheet with 12 digs, nine kills and four blocks, while Levi Randall added eight kills and three blocks.

Gibson Lamoreaux added eight kills, six digs, three blocks and two serving aces, while Nathan Law added seven digs.

Setting up their playmakers, Tyler Bradshaw dished out 17 assists, while James Peel recorded 13 assists.

Defeating both rivals this postseason, the Eagles cruised past Virgin Valley 3-0 on May 7.

Graduating a handful of key players, coach Huxford already has her eyes on next season with hopes of the dynasty continuing.

“We’re definitely going to be retooling but not rebuilding,” Huxford said. “We have a lot of talented kids coming up who are ready for their turn.”