Based on the score, it wouldn’t look like Rampart had just come off a two-week break. 

In their first game back after spring break, the host Rams led wire to wire on Thursday to top Sand Creek 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-14) for the second time this season. It is Rampart boys’ volleyball’s 10th sweep this season, and the win puts the Rams at 13-1 with their last loss being March 7 against Valor Christian. 

The Rams, who are No. 3 in the state, aren’t doing anything fancy to reach this point; they are simply having fun. 

“I like that our team is always having fun. I feel like that is one of the reasons we are coming out with these wins,” said Pine Creek sophomore Bo Young, who plays for Rampart. “We are just having more fun than the other team. Everyone is contributing, and we have great team chemistry.” 

The match was similar to Rampart’s sweep over Discovery Canyon before the break, in which the Rams also led the whole way. In Thursday’s match, Sand Creek (12-3) stayed close for most of the first set, but a 6-0 run helped Rampart pull away to take the set 25-20. 

“It got to us a little bit in the head,” Sand Creek coach Bailey Cook said of the first set. “That’s something we are going to work on in the second half of the season, which is our mental toughness. Any team we are going to see will have big plays and big things happen, and we just have to focus on us and what we can control.” 

The second set was similar, with the Rams leading by as many as 11 points on their way to a 25-14 win. Having found its rhythm, Rampart started the third set strong with a 5-0 advantage and led by as many as 16 to take the third set despite a late 6-0 run by the Scorpions. 

“We came out a little slow, a little tentative, but once we got our momentum going, I felt like the boys played really well,” Rams coach Marc Phillips said. “A lot of volleyball is about timing. Timing was off in the first set, a couple of bad passes, but once we got locked in, the timing came back.” 

Despite coming from different schools in District 20, many of Rampart’s players have built camaraderie from playing on last year’s varsity team. While last year’s team was good, it let opponents stay in games by giving up sets early on. This year’s team is different. 

“This year we have really focused on starting strong and finishing strong,” Phillips said. “We are not letting the other team get a set, because it gives them hope to beat us.”

Despite Thursday’s loss, Sand Creek has also had a strong season built on solid team chemistry. The team is open to D-49 schools, and Cook has made communication and team bonding a priority. 

The Scorpions have three losses this season, two of them coming from Rampart and one to Discovery Canyon on Tuesday. The Rams and Thunder are at the top of the Pikes Peak 5A league with Sand Creek in third. 

“Rampart is one of the best teams in the state, and we knew that in the very first game of the season,” Cook said. “Our goal tonight was just to compete with them. They look like teams in the postseason, and we want to make it to the postseason.” 

The Rams may have a target on their backs as one of the top teams in the state, but that only fuels them more. Their goal is to win state, and Thursday’s win gives them confidence to go all the way.

“Our goal is 25-0 every time,” Young said. “Tonight showed we can beat a team twice and that it wasn’t a fluke. We will just keep doing what we’re doing, and that’s having fun.”