Gilbert had a mere speed bump in the road Tuesday on its quest for a boys volleyball state championship.

The Gilbert boys volleyball team is knocking on any wood it can find, because this is lining up a little too well.

Don’t be fooled by the score. Even if it is cliché, the match was much closer than it appeared.

Power is not always about strength.

Before worrying about Mesa Red Mountain, the Gilbert boys volleyball team had to focus on itself.

“Finalmente.”

Cameron Dudley had a great view from the bench last year when the Gilbert boys volleyball team won the state title.

Were the Arizona Diamondbacks simply copying the Chandler softball team?

If appearances won boys volleyball matches, Brophy had Gilbert beaten easily on Wednesday night.

Boys volleyball coaches approach weekend tournaments differently.

Gilbert found out why Mountain Pointe is the defending state champion in boys volleyball on Thursday evening.

Many of the top players from last year's boys volleyball season are moving on. But the top teams aren't going anywhere. Although it's a new group individually among the cream of the crop, the top programs aren't going to rebuild this year - they'll just reload.

Cody Martin’s spring went so well that it really messed with his plans.

It took more than four hours, nine sets, and an upset of the No. 1 seed, to create an all-Gilbert final in the boys volleyball state tournament.

All-Tribune First Team

Whether it was emotion, momentum or just plain talent, no one would have been surprised if either Highland or Gilbert won the state boys volleyball championship on Saturday night.

It’s Part 2 of the rally scoring experiment.

Every once in a while, Gilbert junior Jordan Neal admits to catching himself staring at the pair of volleyball state championship banners hanging on the Gilbert High School gymnasium wall.

When Higley boys volleyball debut as a varsity sport last spring, then-sophomore Anthony Amos was the only Knight to have ever played the game. Everyone else was an athlete from some other sport, partially recruited within the school by coach Nick Lujan to try volleyball.

Since boys volleyball began as a varsity sport in 1995, only Tucson Canyon del Oro (1996 and 1997) has been able to loosen the East Valley and Phoenix Brophy stranglehold on the big-school title.

Cody Martin’s spring went so well that it really messed with his plans.

Cody Martin’s spring went so well that it really messed with his plans.

Mountain Pointe’s boys volleyball program knows a thing or two (or nine) about big matches. The Pride have played in nine state championship matches under coach Fred Mann, and have won seven.