Columbus High’s boys volleyball team finally reached the mountaintop on Saturday, and they did it in straight sets. The Explorers swept Winter Garden Horizon 25-17, 25-16, 25-23 to claim the Class 3A state championship at Polk State College’s Winter Haven Health Center, the first state volleyball crown in school history. Senior captain Lucas Riva finished with 13 kills, Columbus closed the season at 27-5, and the team did not drop a single set in its two weekend matches.
“It’s surreal, and it’s been our plan all year,” coach Daniel Thews said afterward, crediting a senior core that stayed locked in from opening serve to final point. Riva, already committed to New York University according to Christopher Columbus High School, delivered the championship winner in front of a large contingent of Columbus supporters who made the nearly four-hour drive from Miami to Winter Haven, a scene Thews called “the best feeling in the world,” as reported by the Miami Herald.
How the Final Unfolded
Columbus controlled the first two sets and then held its nerve in the third to finish off the sweep, with final set scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-23. The box score reflects how balanced the effort was: 39 assists and 51 digs across the roster, a stat line that speaks to a full-team performance rather than a one-man show. Those numbers and the detailed game breakdown are listed in the official box score on MaxPreps.
Comeback and Context
For Riva, this title run doubled as a personal comeback story. He suffered a major ankle injury in last year’s regional final against Southwest Miami and missed the rest of that postseason. This spring he returned to help power the Explorers to GMAC and district championships, plus a regional rematch win over Southwest that cleared the path back to states. Thews pointed to the daily grind and depth of the senior group as the backbone of the program’s first state crown, a journey detailed in the Miami Herald report.
Event Notes
The Florida High School Athletic Association staged the boys volleyball state championships over three days at Polk State College’s Winter Haven Health Center, with semifinals on Thursday and Friday and all title matches on Saturday. Ticket information, schedules and live-stream options were laid out in the association’s pre-tournament guide, as outlined by the FHSAA.
Now the focus shifts quickly from trophies to transitions. Seniors will head off to college programs while underclassmen return with a state title on their résumés and a target on their backs. Columbus’ March principal newsletter had already spotlighted Riva as an NYU commit, underscoring that the program’s top talent is already moving on to the next level, per Christopher Columbus High School.
