LITTLETON | The Grandview boys volleyball team has played a lot of volleyball lately, but had all the energy it needed in the biggest moments Saturday afternoon.
Coach Scott Nugent’s Wolves played their fourth match in a five-day span when they squared off with the Littleton Public Schools co-op team at Heritage High School with the Centennial League title on the line, and roared back from the brink of defeat to win a five-set thriller.
Grandview’s lineup of experience and precocious young players came through in the clutch to capture the first boys volleyball league championship in school history with a 17-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-5 victory.
“I’m impressed with this team’s grit and determination,” said Nugent, whose team avenged a three-set tournament loss to LPS and a four-set Centennial League defeat earlier. “When we played them the first two times, we played great, but they played greater.
“So even when we were down, we looked for the signs that we were doing what we wanted to do and not give in. These guys answered.”
Freshmen Alex Garcia and Connor Deickman had 14 and 13 kills, respectively, while junior Nick Safray added nine in the championship victory. Sophomore setter Devan Hall was credited with 37 assists.
The Wolves finished their busy late stretch with a 4-0 record, which pushed their record to 17-4 with just a 6:30 p.m. home match April 30 against Rock Canyon left in the regular season. The seeding meeting for postseason regional tournaments in May 1.
Grandview came into the Centennial League Challenge as the No. 3 seed and opened with a win over Cherry Creek, which was followed by a five-set victory over No. 2 Eaglecrest in the semifinals. That pitted the Wolves against top-seeded Littleton Public Schools, which defeated No. 4 Cherokee Trail.
The hosts picked up wins in the first two sets and seemed intent on wrapping up the league title, only to see Grandview dig in when it mattered most. Hall piled up back-to-back aces late in the third set to gives the Wolves the advantage and they won the final three points to force a fourth set.
A see-saw set was tied at 22-2 before Garcia came through with a big putaway, which was followed by a service ace from junior Hayden Samala. LPS pulled back within a point, but an errant serve give Grandview the winning point.
The Wolves — buoyed by the energy from its coaches and players on the bench — steamrolled through the final set in impressive fashion. Safray came up big in the set in several instances, while senior Tom Dalton added a late ace and junior Taven Johnson secured the victory with a block.
“It wasn’t so fun after the first two sets, but it got fun at the end,” Safray said. “Overall, it was a great experience for us.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports