High school boys volleyball: Maple Mountain caps off great season with another 5A championship

Sometimes players and coaches can lose sight of just how hard winning can be, especially when the wins roll in, but that has never been the case, nor will it ever be if Maple Mountain’s boys volleyball team has its way.

The program has set a culture of “Team is family, never assume anything and go put in the work.” The culture has paid off for the top-ranked Golden Eagles, who swept No. 4 Wasatch 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-15) Saturday for a second-straight 5A boys title.

“Staying humble is really what helped us get here. Nothing’s given to us,” said Maple Mountain’s Trey Thornton.

Coming off last season’s championship, Golden Eagles coach Napolean Galang knew he had great returning players and great incoming players heading into this season, but that was no guarantee for another successful run. That didn’t come until the work started in the gym at the beginning of this year.

“We had this preseason tournament where we knew there was something special about this team,” said Galang. “From Day 1, they knew what they wanted, and they worked so hard every day in practice for it.”

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For Maple Mountain, much of its dominance has been behind Thornton, the reigning Mr. Volleyball in the state. That dominance includes dropping only nine sets and going undefeated against Utah teams this year, while finishing with a 29-1 record.

The one loss came against an out of state team in a tournament back in March.

“A lot of teams plan for us, and Trey is so good, but we have a whole team that is just as lethal,” said Galang.

It helps when you have weapons behind Thornton, but the reality is whether he’s swinging or the decoy, he draws the focus of defenses.

“We just feed him the ball. He’s our captain. When we need something, he’s our go to. He’s going to leave a legacy for this school,” added Galang.

Thornton’s legacy will extend beyond the school as he’s likely to snatch up the state’s highest honor again after another outstanding season, but what’s funny about the BYU signee is he likes talking more about passing than anything, as he believes his team is the best passing team in the state.

“Every single game, I think we outperform in the passing category,” said Thornton. “I personally would rather have a good pass or dig than a big kill. It’s just how I am.”

Thornton isn’t wrong, as watching Maple Mountain is a thing of beauty with the way it sets up its attackers. There’s the combination of flawless passes with digs nobody thinks anyone will make, both driven by freshman libero McKay Beattie.

Then there’s the set that comes from Taft Hillman, whose vision for finding players and mixing things up is unparalleled, not to mention that Hillman is 6-foot-7, which often throws teams off at the net when they are expecting him to hit or dump rather than set.

“I was in about sixth grade and I was playing with some of my dad’s friends and I realized I couldn’t hit, so I started setting,” Tillman said laughing.

The choice has paid off for the setter, who runs the offense in a way that confuses opposing teams because they never know which weapon he’s going to turn to.

That was the case Saturday as the Wasps, like many teams, just couldn’t find an answer for Maple Mountain’s attack. They fought until the end behind seven kills from JJ Serre and 13 assists from Brody Hulme.

In the end, the season closed out like many expected it would after Maple Mountain tallied win after win. Thornton led all players with 17 kills while Hillman added 27 assists.

“It’s just a testament to how hard the boys worked, how hard my coaching staff worked to get to this point,” said Galang. “It looks easy, but we’ve had our struggles and it’s just so satisfying to see it pay off in the end.”