Eagles avenge season-opening loss

Changing the course of its season in a matter of weeks, Boulder City High School boys volleyball team picked up a monumental 3-1 victory over Somerset Academy Sky Pointe on Monday, April 8.

The Eagles advanced their win streak to eight games, making up for their league-opening 3-1 loss to Sky Pointe on March 19.

“We’ve been very good about learning from our mistakes,” head coach Rachelle Huxford said. “Most importantly though, the boys are gaining confidence in each other and they’re learning to trust each other and that’s huge in volleyball because it truly is a team sport. We’ve been night-and-day better from where we were to start the season. We have a chance to be really good.”

Playing above and beyond on both sides of the ball, the Eagles recovered after dropping the first set, rolling to a 25-27, 25-18, 25-21, 25-17 victory.

“I thought we played really well as a team tonight,” Huxford said. “I thought we were able to shut everyone down for them offensively, except No. 10 and even he did have as much success as he did against us last time. On offense we were able to spread our sets around and attack with a lot of hitters. We diversified our offense and not any one person was a threat. I think it kept them on their toes.”

Spreading the ball around offensively, senior Karson Bailey led the way with 21 kills, while junior Preston Jorgensen added 18 kills. Playing a large role as new contributors, junior Dylan Leasure added 11 kills and junior Boen Huxford generated nine kills.

“I think the team played really well,” Bailey said. “We got a ton of contribution from all the players on the team from hitting and blocking to digs and great sets. It was an exceptional team effort and I was really proud of all our players performances.

Setting up their teammates for key points, freshman Kenny Rose dished out a game-high 27 assists and Boen Huxford tallied 23 assists.

Defensively, Bailey generated 16 digs and four blocks and Jorgensen tallied 15 digs and three blocks. Junior Gavin Balistere added three blocks.

Defeating Somerset Academy Losee 3-0 on April 4, the Eagles rolled to a 25-8, 25-10, 25-17 victory.

Jorgensen generated a game-high 16 kills, while freshman Kannon Rose made 14 digs defensively. Junior Braden Soileau added five serving aces.

Set for another stiff test, Boulder City will travel to Del Sol today, April 11, with hopes of avenging their March 25 loss to the Dragons. Coach Huxford knows a target will be on their back moving forward.

“I think teams are starting to take notice of us,” Rachelle Huxford said. “We’re gonna start having a target on our backs and teams are going to take us serious. We’re right there with the top teams in our league, Mojave, Del Sol and Sky Pointe. When we play like we’re capable of, we’re very tough to beat.”

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.