This was the one Northwest Christian wanted. Two runner-up finishes in the past three seasons, undefeated in power point play, not giving up a single set in those matches, and ranked No. 1 heading into the tournament.

But Arizona College Prep, playing in its first-ever boys volleyball championship match and having beaten Northwest Christian in the Defend the Kingdom Invitational earlier this season, showed off its talent in a 3-2 (25-20, 26-24, 15-25, 20-25, 15-13) win Saturday afternoon at Skyline High School for the 4A title. And now the school needs to think of a location to place the trophy.

“It’s unreal,” coach KJ Struz said. “You work so hard to get here. The way the boys fought back, going up two but looking at a reverse sweep, that’s huge. I talk a lot about belief with the boys. And they dug deep enough and wanted it just a little bit more today.”

The match started just how the Crusaders wanted. Senior Jackson Schlesinger slammed down the first point and freshman Gavin Helmer followed with an ace. But ACP hung tough and started to own the net. When Knights junior Logan Coking blocked Helmer to put his team up 9-8, they never looked back. Coking and senior Austin Lund combined for six kills, two blocks and an ace.

“Logan Coking is definitely our go-to outside,” said Struz. “The connection that he and (setter) Kaden (Wong) has is absolutely incredible. Logan is one of those locked-in players who just loves playing the game. You can tell by the smile on his face. And he just had fun on the court and that’s when I see the best Logan.”

NWC looked to reverse its fortunes in game 2 but had to rally from early deficits to eventually take the lead at 13-12 on a Hubbard ace. The Crusaders opened up its biggest lead of the match at 20-15 on a combined block by Helmer and senior Kelson Evans. But ACP turned a 23-19 deficit into a 23-23 tie. Hubbard made it set point, but that was it. The Knights got two blocks and an ace to close it out.

That title was about to elude the Crusaders once again.

But down 2-0 in the third, NWC rattled off seven straight points and cruised the rest of the way. The lead was never less than five points in the frame and now it was 2-1. The team continued to ride the hot hand of the front line in game 4 and got up 11-6. Hubbard had four of those points himself. ACP managed to tie it at 13-13 but that was as close as they would get. Hubbard had six kills as the team had 12 with two blocks and two aces.

The Crusaders tied the match, had all the momentum, and had a sense the trophy would finally make its way to northwest Phoenix.

“We just wanted momentum for the next set,” Coking said. “But we got back our confidence and had to finish it out with all we got.

Northwest Christian continued with the offensive firepower getting ahead 5-1 in the final stanza. Struz called a timeout to regroup. And it worked. The Knights tied the set up at 7-7 thanks to three kills in a row for senior Lucas Park. It remained close the rest of the way with neither team gaining more than a two-point advantage that featured three ties. But the Knights never trailed again. Up 14-13 senior Jake Busot hammered home an uncontested cross court shot. The celebration was on.

Coking, who was third in 4A in kills, led the way for the Knights with 23 kills, two blocks and an ace. He came up big in the fifth with three team points in a row turning a 10-10 tie into a 13-12 advantage the squad would not relinquish.

Park also created a spark that ACP needed. Not inserted into the lineup until halfway through the fourth game, he had three kills in four rallies during the last game and did a great job keeping the NWC defense guessing with off speed attacks and solid defense.

“He’s a four-year varsity. He started as a setter, and we were like, ‘no, you are not a setter’,” Struz added. “He moved to the outside, and today defensively is where I needed him. And he stepped up. Offensively, he was super smart with the block. He knew exactly where they were in the rotation. And he exploited that to get a few points here and there.”

“I didn’t have anything on my mind. I just went in and played,” said Park. “I was a little scared (at first) but as I played I just wanted to win. Thinking nothing but winning. We needed someone to step up and get that momentum going. I felt really lucky to be that person to do it.”

Hubbard did all he could for the Crusaders. He finished with a match-high 26 kills, four aces and a block. He was second in 4A entering the match with 387 kills on the season. Evans added four blocks up front as the team totalled with nine.