Salpointe went undefeated to capture the championship of the TUSD Boy's Volleyball Invitational held Friday and Saturday at Pueblo High School. The Lancers finished 6-0 at the invite, defeating Tucson 2-1 (26-27, 25-20, 15-13) in the final.

The championship match was a game of streaks with the Badgers striking first to erase a 15-10 deficit in the first set. Tucson went on a 9-3 run to take a 19-18 lead but Salpointe junior Luke Wallace responded with a couple of kills to temporarily stop the Badgers.

Salpointe went back up 22-20 but Elias Baer put down a couple of shots of his own and Emilio Anaya served an ace to give Tucson a 23-22 lead. The set eventually work its way to 25-25 then 26-26 but Tucson came out on top 27-26 on a double-hit violation. Each set had a cap of 27.

Salpointe built a 20-12 lead in the second set but the Badgers made another run to cut the lead down to 22-19 but a service error ended the threat and the Lancers pulled away for the 25-20 win to force the tie-breaker.

Tucson led 4-1, but Parker Miron put down a couple of kills and a block and Salpointe came back to within 7-6. Devin Strayhorn and Anaya came alive at that point and the Badgers found themselves up 12-8.

A service error made the score 12-9 and Salpointe scored again to cut the lead down to 12-10. Then Sean McGroaty took over. The senior had three kills and a block and Salpointe went up 14-13. Miron finished the game with a score in the middle and the Lancers completed the comeback to win the third set 15-13.

"They need to learn to lean on each other when they are facing adversity," explained Salpointe head coach Heather Moore-Martin. "They are a good group with good leadership and are hardworking."

On the other side, the Badgers knew they let an opportunity get away from them but, in reality, just to get this far is a sign that head coach Amanda Larriva has them on the right path.

"I told them they should be proud of what they did here. There is nothing to be ashamed of," she said.

"At no point did they blame each other or get down on themselves," she added. "This situation is something new for them. They have never played for a championship. This was a new experience."