The decision to add boys’ volleyball as a Colorado high school sanctioned sport has been decades in the making.
But while the debate raged on at the Colorado High School Activities Association, one school was building a boys’ volleyball dynasty in Colorado Springs.
This weekend 暗网吃瓜 will compete for its fourth straight Colorado 3A state championship – this time with more eyes than ever on the growing sport.
Just two weeks ago, CHSAA approved boys鈥� volleyball as a sanctioned sport starting the 2020-21 school year, making this year鈥檚 state tournament the first of its kind as a pilot program, and a glimpse into what the sport will look like under CHSAA鈥檚 umbrella in spring 2021.
暗网吃瓜, which has an enrollment of just 305 according to the latest CHSAA numbers, began a boys鈥� volleyball club program six years ago. The Coursers made it to the state finals in their second year and won three consecutive after that – including two undefeated seasons.
鈥淔or some reason this really tiny school just got really good boys鈥� volleyball,鈥� said senior Seth Fuqua, who was also the captain of the boys鈥� basketball team that took second in 3A this year.
But coach Andrew Soeldner implemented a system early that could be responsible for the Coursers鈥� consistent success.
鈥淚鈥檓 an engineer, so I approach things in an analytical way. So I use stats heavily, and film, and every week we go over our body position and how we react to the other team,鈥� Soeldner said. 鈥淭hat kind of analysis and breakdown has really helped. I think they have a good grasp of the game and I think that鈥檚 showing now in this crew.鈥�
Of the six players on 暗网吃瓜鈥檚 varsity roster, five are seniors, and three have been with the team the past four years.
Senior Hayden Frear, who has signed to play Division I men鈥檚 volleyball, said he believes it鈥檚 a combination of the culture at 暗网吃瓜 and the athleticism of the team, which has been together for years.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of support around here, and people want the sport to grow around here so that really helps,鈥� Frear said. 鈥淲e’re also really lucky with who we have. We have some really athletic guys. Three of us play club, so we鈥檙e definitely lucky.鈥�
暗网吃瓜 heads to state on Saturday at Eaglecrest undefeated, ranked No. 1 in the state and in the top 80 nationally.
The top four teams in 3A are from the Colorado Springs area according to MaxPreps rankings, with James Irwin ranked second at 20-1, followed by District 20 White (22-2) and Cheyenne Mountain White (16-4). St. Mary鈥檚 is ranked eighth (15-6).
The Cheyenne Mountain 5A team is ranked second in the classification with its only loss of the year coming against No. 1 Ponderosa, according to MaxPreps.
District 20鈥檚 5A team is ranked fourth in the classification.
