Two years ago just before the inaugural season of sanctioned boys volleyball, then Maple Mountain assistant coach and current head coach Napoleon Galang got a call he didn’t think much of. To Galang, it seemed just like a curious mother just inquiring about a team for her son.
Little did Galang know that call came from BYU women’s basketball alumni Alisha Thornton and would lead to the best player in the state in Trey Thornton, and two consecutive state championships.
“They would laugh if I said it, but his mom had called me before the school year was about to begin,” Galang said. “She said, ‘My son Trey is moving in and he’s a really great player. What clubs are around and what’s the high school schedule look like?’”
“I got to talk to his mom before I met Trey,” Galang continued. “As a coach, you kind of take some things with a grain of salt because you know every parent’s going to say their kid is the best player. But once he started playing, I knew that he knew how to play.”
In nearly every measurable aspect Thornton just screams ‘elite volleyball player.’ The 6-foot-7 BYU signee finished second in the state in kills with 422 and did so with a .431 hitting percentage, which is also the second best in the state.
But what pushes Thornton past just a good high school player and into legit D1 player territory is his versatility.
Thornton is as equally impactful defensively as he is offensively. He tallied 43 blocks on the year and also proved himself as a strong backline player with 169 digs.
Thornton’s ability to impact the game from any spot on the court named him the recipient of Deseret News’ 2025 Mr. Volleyball. This is Thornton’s second time earning Mr. Volleyball honors.
Thornton will join BYU’s men’s volleyball team later this year and plans to serve a mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after a year with the Cougars.
“(Playing for BYU has) been a dream since the beginning,” Thornton said. “I knew how much work it took and growing up my coaches really instilled a drive in me that kind of allowed me to keep that as my priority in life.
“You have to make sacrifices to get where you want to be. I think just keeping my priorities in line, obviously family and God is first, but volleyball came above some things like social life. I had to give up a few dances and a few parties, but it paid off in the end.”
It hasn’t been an easy journey by any stretch for Thornton. Originally from Alabama, Thornton had to play on girls teams, then play for a boys team three hours away in order to play organized volleyball.
While it was inconvenient, it helped Thornton find a small, tight-knit community which helped him develop his volleyball talent. The stars aligned perfectly for Thornton as the first season of sanctioned high school boys volleyball came right after he moved to Utah.
Before the move, Thornton wasn’t sure if he’d ever get to play high school volleyball. But now, Thornton has two state championships and two Mr. Volleyball awards.
“My club in Alabama, which was the Girls Club, they still follow me really closely,” Thornton said. “The girls I played with growing up, we still talk pretty much every day, and the coaches reach out all the time.
“If you asked me three years ago, ‘Are you ever going to play high school volleyball?’ I would have said there’s no way I’m going to play high school volleyball, let alone win two state championships.”
When June 15, 2024 rolled around, Division 1 schools were allowed to contact students entering their junior year. Thornton had a strong tournament appearance in early June which got the eyes of colleges on him.
Quite a few schools showed interest in Thornton and he did some campus visits despite his dream to play for BYU. Even during those visits, he knew no school could pry him away from the Cougars. In the end, he stuck with his gut and decided to follow in his mothers footsteps to Provo.
“I was honestly surprised, I didn’t think that I was going to be a very big recruit,” Thornton said. “I talked to other recruits and most said, ‘I had two or three schools interested,’ while I had around 10. I was just really blessed.”
Boys volleyball is still a young sport in Utah, but Thornton leaves a significant legacy at Maple Mountain after helping build a hardworking, winning culture.
“I think his work ethic and his play has been the biggest influence over these kids that haven’t played volleyball before and even those who have been playing volleyball for several years now,” Galang said. “He has shown in his work ethic, his practicing and his gameplay just how fun volleyball can be for boys this age. I think he genuinely has inspired a lot of our players in our program to say, ‘Hey, I want to be like Trey.’”
