The rematch between Coronado and Palo Verde’s boys volleyball teams in the Class 5A state championship game didn’t disappoint.

After a marathon five sets, the Cougars got their revenge.

A year after being swept in the title game, Coronado survived a five-set thriller over Palo Verde 23-25, 25-14, 28-30, 25-20, 15-12 to win the 5A state championship Tuesday night at Sunrise Mountain.

“It feels great,” first-year coach Jazlynn Mau said. “I came in with a purpose this year being new to the program, and I made sure that I kept my promise to the boys. And they worked hard for it, and they deserved it.”

It’s the third state title for Coronado (38-2) and first since 2013. Palo Verde (19-9) was the only Nevada team to beat Coronado this season, which made the win a little sweeter for the Cougars.

“Playing Palo, who we lost to badly last year, it’s just picture perfect and it couldn’t be anything better,” senior Dexter Brimhall said. “It’s the most exciting game probably in my high school career. The crowds on both sides were going nuts. It was an amazing atmosphere, I wouldn’t want to play in anything else.”

The two other state title games Tuesday at Sunrise Mountain were also five-set thrillers. Basic defeated Mojave to win its second straight 4A title, and Virgin Valley knocked off three-time defending champion Boulder City for the 3A crown.

Palo Verde jumped out to a 13-7 lead in the first set thanks to strong net play from Peter Castor, Davide Bruce and Eli Nelson.

Coronado clawed back after several Palo Verde errors and evened the score at 20. But Andrew Gutierrez’s kill on set point gave the Panthers a 25-23 opening-set win.

“Nothing surprised us with this game. We always bounce back,” senior Dane Galvin said. “We know how to bounce back against Palo and get out of the system, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Coronado reset and attacked in the second set after falling behind 15-11 midway through the set.

Brimhall and Galvin recorded several kills, and the Cougars closed on a 10-2 run to take the second set 25-14 and even the score.

Coronado took control of the third set with a 15-10 lead, but Palo Verde kept chipping away. The marathon third set ended on a Coronado error, and the Panthers won 30-28.

“I told them we have to stay present,” Mau said. “You can’t think about last year, the year before, you can’t think about future plays. We have to stay present in every single moment and every single point … in order to execute (the comeback), and they did just that.”

With its season on the line, Coronado didn’t back down and kept attacking, pulling away after the fourth set was tied at 10. The Cougars took a 25-20 win on a Palo Verde service error.

The Cougars carried their momentum in the fifth set and answered every time Palo Verde appeared to make a run. Luke Wilkinson had several key kills in the set for the Cougars.

The game ended on an ace from Galvin, which caused the loudest roar of the game from the rambunctious Coronado student section.

“It’s what dreams are made of, go to five sets, it’s a nail-biter, the entire way,” Mau said. “Game point (Galvin) takes a risk, and he just pounds it over the net. It’s truly like a dream come true and a happy ending for a lot of our seniors.”

Brimhall had 16 kills, and Galvin added 27 kills. The Cougars’ 38th win is tied for the second-most wins by a boys volleyball team in a season.

“Going into a game with a lot of revenge kinds of sets you up for success and brings the energy definitely for the team,” Galvin said. “They beat us last year, but we wanted it more today, and we won it and came out on top.”

■ No. 1S Basic 3, No. 2D Mojave 2: The Wolves (28-10) defended their 4A state title with a 25-13, 26-28, 26-24, 23-25, 15-13 win over the Rattlers (19-14).

Ty Hardy had 18 kills and Porter Hughes added 21 kills for Basic.

■ No. 1D Virgin Valley 3, No. 1M Boulder City 2: The Bulldogs (28-9) outlasted the Eagles 25-18, 15-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-7 to win the 3A title in the first match of the day.

Boulder City (30-9) had won the past three 3A titles.

Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.