Don Ketchum
Former Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com

Boulder Creek boys volleyball has ingredients for success

April 11, 2013 by Don Ketchum, AZPreps365


The boys volleyball team from Anthem Boulder Creek has a good blueprint for success.

The Jaguars have a mix of younger and older players, experienced gained from a strong showing in last year’s Division I state tournament, depth and athleticism.

Whether that translates to a state title in 2013 remains to be seen.

The team will get a good idea of where it stands and what adjustments it needs to make over the course of the final few weeks of the season when it plays in the Brophy Invitational on Friday (April 12) and Saturday (April 13) at Phoenix Brophy Prep.

Boulder Creek, No. 3 in the power seedings as of Wednesday (April 10) with a 21-4 record, fell to Brophy 3-2 in a match on Tuesday (April 9). Mesa High was seeded No. 1, followed by Phoenix Desert Vista, Boulder Creek, defending state champion Gilbert and Brophy.

Boulder Creek had a 2-1 lead against Brophy, then fell in a marathon game 29-27 before dropping the decisive final game 15-5.

“We’ve played really tough this season, fairly consistent,’’ said Boulder Creek coach Troy Dueling. “(Tuesday) night showed us some of the adjustments we have to make.

“In the moment, it’s the worst feeling you can have. But I told the players, “Unless you have a time machine, we’re not changing this.’ So you have to move on.’’

Boulder Creek was the No. 8 seed in the 2012 state tournament. It got a first-round bye and defeated Tucson Ironwood Ridge in the second round before falling to Chandler Hamilton in four sets in the quarterfinals.

“Hamilton had a lot of seniors and we had a lot of younger guys, sophomores,’’ Dueling said. “But we became more mature, more strong-minded. We learned a lot more about what to do in volleyball situations.

“I am blessed to have players who are dedicated to the sport. They play it year-round, and have good volleyball IQs, capable of making adjustments from game to game, set to set.’’

Boulder Creek’s top players are Quinton “Q’’ Campbell., a 6-foot-1 junior; Cody Williams, a 6-2 junior; Alec Wilson, a 6-foot senior libero; Alex Lavine, a 6-1 senior outside hitter; and Chris Balzer, a 6-3 junior middle blocker.

“We like to think of ourselves as versatile, but we also like to “hang and bang,’ ’’ Dueling said. “We swing hard and like to generate offense.’’