The 2025 Season was one of the most successful seasons in the young sports 5-year history. Valor has competed in all 5 seasons that Boys Volleyball has been a CHSAA sport, and this was the 3rd time that they have qualified for the State Tournament.
Their season started off slow. They dropped the first 3 matches in Colorado, including losing a tough home match to league rival Grandview in 5 sets. The team then went on the road to play in the "Best of the West" tournament in Toole, Utah, right outside of Salt Lake City. During the tournament, the team found their stride, going 4-0, only dropping one set all weekend, to take first place.
After returning from Spring Break, the team participated in Engage Week. This is a week where students and staff get out and serve the community. They went to Jeffco Eats, a food bank in Jefferson County that provides meals for students, and packed up 1500 meals.
The next week saw the Eagles winning ways continue with 2 league wins. Illness and injuries crept in, and they dropped the next 2 league matches, including a close one to eventual State Runner-ups, Littleton Public Schools Co-op. Next up was the Cheyenne Mountain Tournament in Colorado Springs. It is a 2-day tournament that attracts several of the top teams in the State, including 5 of the 8 teams that qualified for the State Tournament. The team went 3-1, taking 3rd in the tournament, including beating Discovery Canyon in their own gym in 4 sets.
For Boys Volleyball, Valor competes in the Centennial League, the strongest league in the state. All 8 teams from the league qualified for Regionals, and 4 of the 8 state qualifiers were Centennial League teams. Upon finishing up the league schedule, the Eagles found themselves in 4th place going into their league tournament. In the first round, they hosted 5th seed Cherokee Trail and beat them in straight sets. In the second round they were matched up again with the #1 seeded LPS. The 3 school co-op got the upper hand, but that set up another match-up with Grandview, this time in their gym, in the last round of the league tournament. Valor got the upset of the 3 seed winning in 4 sets to finish 3rd in the Centennial league behind Eagle Crest and LPS, who went on to take 1st and 2nd in the State Tournament.
The Eagles finished up the regular season with Senior Night against another rival, Douglas County High School. By this point in the season, the team was clicking, and they honored the seniors with a 3-1 victory in their last home competition to get the team ready for the playoff run.
Going into Regionals, the team was sitting at 11th in the state, which placed them in Region 5 with Cherry Creek and host Poudre in Fort Collins. After dispatching Cherry Creek in straight sets, avenging an early-season loss, the Eagles faced the Impalas with a berth to the State Tournament on the line. In an epic battle, Valor prevailed 3-1, including a comeback in the 4th set where they were down 21-24, earning 5 straight points to win the set, prevent having to play a 5th set, and earn the right to play in the State Championship Tournament.
The Eagles went into State as the #7 seed and drew the defending State Champion, Mountain Vista, in the first round. Despite playing the Golden Eagles tough, they lost, but since the tournament is double elimination, Valor was still alive. The next morning, they got a rematch with Discovery Canyon. In a 5-set thriller, Valor knocked the Thunder out, including another 4th set comeback to stave off elimination, and then went on to win the 5th set 15-8. This set up a match later that evening against the #4 seed, Legacy. Unfortunately, the Eagles lost 3-1, eliminating them from the Championship. Considering the team was ranked as low as 34th near the beginning of the season, ending up 5th in the state is an impressive finish.
For their efforts, Junior Middle Blocker Ted Ranzan and Senior Libero Mason Walters received All-League Honorable Mention. Junior Middle Blocker Lincoln Jessen was named Second Team All-League. Junior Outside Hitter Reed Fisk, Senior Setter Darren Wright, and Senior Outside Hitter Justin Barwind were all named First Team All-League. Coach Peluso was also named Coach of the Year for the Centennial League.
In addition, Wright, Barwind, and Fisk were also named to the All-State team as Honorable Mentions.
