Still in its young stages as a sanctioned prep sport, boys volleyball continues to grow by leaps and bounds in Colorado and Aurora.
New programs were established, the level of play across the city rose noticeably on returning teams and programs that were already well established such as those at Eaglecrest and Cherokee Trail raised their own high bars.
The 2023 Sentinel Colorado All-Aurora Boys Volleyball Team, which is picked by the Sentinel in conjunction with balloting of city coaches, has plenty of representation from Aurora’s two state qualifiers in the Raptors (the state runners-up) and the Cougars.
Coach Chad Bond’s Eaglecrest team had plenty of veteran components from previous state tournament runs, but had to work in a variety of new faces due to graduation of some key figures. The Raptors did so and then some, coming around at the end of the season and streaking all the way to a berth in the state championship match.
Eaglecrest had one of the most reliable offensive weapons in Colorado in senior outside hitter Ayden Shaw, who has signed to play Division I men’s volleyball at Dominican University in New York.
With Eaglecrest playing so far in the postseason — all the way to a four-set loss to Discovery Canyon in the state championship match — Shaw saw action in 101 sets and piled up a whopping 430 kills, which tied him with Legend’s Paxton Wright for tops in the state. The All-Centennial League first team performer finished with 90 more kills than the next-closest league player.
In addition, Shaw was vital in the passing game and registered 267 digs (2.6 per set) to rank in the top 16 in the state and he also recorded 52 blocks to rank eighth in the league standings. He was voted onto the CHSAANow.com’s All-State first team.
Shaw could only be effective on the attack if he got the chances, however, and he was looked for often by freshman Dillan Ancheta, who took over at setter for Eaglecrest after it graduated star Alfred Maiava.
Ancheta — brother of senior Dennis Ancheta — played in 105 sets and racked up 841 assists, which ranked him second in the state of Colorado. Only Legend’s Reece Lindstrom (927) had more assists, while Ancheta had 162 more assists than Centennial League runner-up Tucker Shearn of Valor Christian (679).
The All-Centennial League second team selection averaged 8.0 assists per set and also finished fourth in the league in service aces with 34.
Dennis Ancheta was a CHSAA All-State second team pick as a libero and his 388 digs ranked him fourth in the state in that category, though he missed some midseason matches due to injury. The All-Centennial League first team pick had the same number of service aces as his brother to tie for fourth in the league.
Cherokee Trail also had a significantly veteran team and coach Mike Thomsen’s group rolled through the regular season with just three losses, captured the Centennial League Challenge tournament and qualified for state as part of an 11-match winning streak.
Helping to fuel the run for the Cougars — who lost to Eaglecrest in the opening round of state and were eliminated with a loss to Legend in a match where three of the four sets needed extra points to decide — was junior John Clinton. The dynamic outside hitter’s play earned him a spot on the All-Centennial League first team as well as CHSAA’s All-State second team.
Clinton was Aurora’s second-most prolific offensive player in terms of kills, as he racked up 334 to rank sixth in the state. He averaged 3.8 per set — third-highest in the league behind Shaw and Valor Christian’s Gabe Repplinger — ranked ninth in his conference with 185 digs and added 39 blocks.
Another veteran member of Cherokee Trail’s lineup, senior Daniel Xiao, one of the top performers around at middle blocker. The ultra-reliable Xiao finished tied for second on the team in kills per set at 1.7 (with 144 total) and the All-Centennial League first team performer racked up 62 blocks (including a team-high 11 solo blocks) to finish second on the Cougars.
Vista PEAK — which finished 18-7, which was an eight-win improvement from its inaugural season in 2021 — had three All-City League first team performers and qualified for the regional postseason for the first time. Coach Jeffry Ransom’s Bison fell to Douglas County and Coronado in regional play and remain in search of the program’s first trip to the state tournament.
Among the key figures for the Bison was sophomore Tristan Rowley, who was the City League leader in kills with a total of 221 — 2.9 per set — which also led his own team by 40. The 6-foot-5 Rowley also ranked fourth in the league and led Vista PEAK with 53 service aces.
Regis Jesuit suffered a big loss with the graduation of All-Aurora first teamer Tristan Christofferson, but the Raiders (who took the first set from Cherokee Trail in the regional final before falling in four to finish 14-11) were still quite competitive with some key returners to go with an abundance of energy every time they took the court.
Senior Logan Henry helped to pick up some of the slack in Christofferson’s absence and his play earned him a spot on the All-Continental League first team. Henry was a very efficient hitter for coach Kristi Gauss’ team and averaged 2.2 kills per set, while he also registered 68 blocks.
Grandview played its best at the end of the season, qualified for regionals and split two matches in play at Valor Christian. The Wolves (14-11) have an exciting group set to return next season, but they will have to replace a key piece in senior setter Nathan Bidlingmaier.
The All-Centennial League first team selection finished with the second-most assists among Aurora players with 667, a total that ranked him eighth in the state and gave him an average of 7.8 per set. He also added 30 service aces, which was one off the lead for coach Scott Nugent’s team and he also had 113 digs to rank second among Aurora setters.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 SENTINEL COLORADO ALL-AURORA BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Setters: Dillan Ancheta, fr., Eaglecrest; Nathan Bidlingmaier, sr., Grandview; Hitters: John Clinton, jr., Cherokee Trail; Logan Henry, sr., Regis Jesuit; Tristan Rowley, soph., Vista PEAK; Ayden Shaw, sr., Eaglecrest; Daniel Xiao, sr., Cherokee Trail; Libero: Dennis Ancheta, sr., Eaglecrest
SECOND TEAM
Setters: Francisco Beltran, jr., Gateway; David Weiss, sr., Cherokee Trail; Hitters: Vincent Johnson, soph., Gateway; Reese Kloberdanz, sr., Vista PEAK; Nick Safray, soph., Grandview; Alex Riddick, jr., Grandview; Jackson Shaw, soph., Eaglecrest; Libero: Ian Lozano, sr., Vista PEAK
HONORABLE MENTION
Samuel Addai-Opoku, jr., Hinkley; Benjamin Allred, jr., Vista PEAK; Jaeden Barnes, soph., Cherokee Trail; Jordan Benjamin, sr., Vista PEAK; Ryan Bieber, jr., Hinkley; Adrian Cabalo, sr., Overland; Owen Collitt, sr., Cherokee Trail; Anthony Debrum, jr., Gateway; Ahmed Diallo, jr., Overland; Ammon Fifita, jr., Hinkley; Garrett Foster, sr., Overland; Dreyke Frederick, jr., Gateway; Kaiyan Ivey, jr., Vista PEAK; Harold Johnson, sr., Gateway; Liam Jungheim, jr., Vista PEAK; Amir Khabiri Nezhad, jr., Gateway; Dodge McCabe, sr., Overland; Devon Penias, sr., Hinkley; Pethuel Ofori, jr., Rangeview; Sebastian Pineda Tabares, jr., Rangeview; Nicholas Tapparo, jr., Rangeview; Syh Estrada, sr., Vista PEAK; Callen Wolf, soph., Regis Jesuit; Rocky Xiao, sr., Cherokee Trail
