Shadow Ridge boys volleyball squad races to unbeaten mark

Christian Augustin insists his Shadow Ridge boys volleyball team isn’t focused on wins and losses.

Instead, the Mustangs have bought into focusing on how they’re playing and not what the results are, though those results have been awfully difficult to ignore.

Shadow Ridge, winner of the 52-team Las Vegas Easter Invitational last week, carries an 11-0 record into a home match with Palo Verde at 5 p.m. today.

“We don’t even talk about wins and losses,” Augustin said. “We talk about how we execute on the court. We’re happy with this (start), but we really have to temper that success and understand that it’s about how we’re executing on the court.”

The Mustangs might not be talking about their record, but it’s opening eyes.

In its 11 matches against Southern Nevada teams, Shadow Ridge has lost only one game, that coming in a 3-1 road win over defending state champion Las Vegas on March 18.

On top of that, the Mustangs breezed through the Easter Invitational, winning 10 best-of-3-game matches to claim the tournament title, though Southern Nevada teams don’t count such events in their overall record. The only match to go three games was the title match against Nevada Union (Calif.).

“We’ve had some success, but we can’t let winning go to our heads,” junior setter Jeremy Makaiwi said. “We just want to take things one step at a time and get things done.”

Las Vegas teams don’t often win the prestigious tournament. They certainly don’t often go 10-0 in it.

“To be able to finish like that in a championship game is great experience for them,” Augustin said. “We were in close games last year, and we couldn’t finish. Those types of tournaments are important. Younger kids want to buy into, 'Hey, we won this tournament,’ but that doesn’t mean anything unless you’re going to build on it.”

It’s all part of a learning process for the Mustangs, one that started shortly after the school won the 2007 state championship.

Last season, Shadow Ridge was loaded with players with little or no varsity experience.

“They took their lumps last year,” said Augustin, whose team went 12-8. “They lost the big matches, but what really helped was we kept our players playing year-round in club. You’re playing at a high level in high school and in club against other teams around the country. You’re getting that experience.”

Those who didn’t play club volleyball were still practicing.

“We play together all the time, just the same group of guys,” junior opposite Jake Shea said. “We’ve gotten to know each other better. We have good team chemistry.”

Makaiwi and Shea and seniors Jeff Elmer and Ryan Nolan have been team leaders. But the Mustangs say they have no MVP, just six players on the court at any given time who know their role and don’t try to do too much.

“One player can’t do it all,” Makaiwi said. “For us to have success, we have to play together.”

And for the Mustangs to have continued success, they’ll likely need to continue to improve. Other teams are well aware of Shadow Ridge’s record and are lining up to try to be the first to hand the Mustangs a loss.

“Now we have to deal with other expectations,” Augustin said. “I have to constantly emphasize how we’re executing. If we’re not going to go out there and execute, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to win or we’re going to lose, but it comes down to how we execute.”

Augustin’s players are buying into that concept, too.

“The hard work has paid off so far, but we have to keep working harder,” Shea said.