On Nov. 12, the boys beach volleyball team made history at the 2025 AIA Boys Beach Volleyball Division I State Championships, winning against Mountain View High School with a final score of 3-1. 

This year marked the start of a boys beach volleyball team after getting multiple athletes from the indoor team to join the newly added fall sport. After having an emerging season, also known as an experimental season, indoor volleyball athletes got to get more experience in playing beach volleyball. Throughout this experience, many athletes learned valuable lessons such as how to adjust to big changes, connect with other athletes, and more. 

Even though the team had a great first season, there were multiple different adjustments that had to be made in order to keep practices and games going. Head Coach Fred Mann states that the biggest adjustment that had to be made was shortening practices. He states, “I don’t know if people can understand the reality of how hot it is in August, and we’re practicing on the sand and it’s just blazing hot out there. . .we had these intentions of having these hour-and-a-half, two-hour practices, but the kids were just exhausted.”

Junior Tate Higgins was partnered with Sophomore Tyden Payne. Higgins states that the biggest lesson learned throughout his experience was how to adapt to playing with partners other than his assigned partner. “When my partner got sick, I had to play with a couple of different partners, and I just had to learn how to play with them.”

His brother, Freshman Kai Higgins, states that he learned a lot from Coach Mann this season. He says, “I learned a lot of volleyball skills such as running on and off the court, running in the sand, and setting.” 

Head Coach Fred Mann says that the biggest factor he hopes the athletes take away from being a part of the win is the relationship and bond that they build with each other. He says, “When you’ve got a partner, hopefully you develop a bond not only with your partner, but also develop a bond with the whole team.”

Uniquely, despite most never playing beach or playing in pairs before the team was able to create a community and partnership that many sports teams lack. This community is what was able to push them and help them win the state championships. 

The athletes in this team have the ability to use what they have learned from this successful season throughout the club volleyball season , and they can also keep that same positive attitude towards one another in the future.