Mica Mountain boys volleyball standout fuels hot start in his final season

At least, that’s what many thought after the Thunderbolts lost 11 seniors before heading into this season.

But current senior Andrew Evans is making sure Mica Mountain’s season is anything but a rebuilding year.

Evans, who plays outside and middle hitter for the Thunderbolts, has already racked up over 100 kills this season. He’s also logged 52 digs and 24 serving aces.

And he helped lead his team to a 12-0 start to the season, including taking down seven Tucson-area high schools to win the Lair Invitational, 7-0, two weeks ago.

Until last week, the Thunderbolts were undefeated until Rincon/University gave them their first loss of the season, 3-0.

Despite the loss, Evans still secured seven kills throughout three sets. With each kill, he would crack a slight smile and celebrate with a brief huddle with his team on the court.

Mica Mountain (15-2) also fell to Goodyear's Estrella Foothills 2-0 on Thursday. 

A big part of Mica Mountain’s early success this season stems from Evans. But if you were to ask him, he’d tell you it’s a collective effort with his teammates, many of whom he’s competed alongside for almost five years.

“We're doing pretty great right now, but we just have to make sure that we keep putting in the work,” he says. “... We have so much more we have to accomplish. Honestly, I can't wait (for the rest of the season) because we're working hard in practice. We're growing.”

Evans first started his volleyball journey in eighth grade. By the time he got to high school, he was fully committed to the sport, even pushing aside two other sports he played — soccer and cross-country — to devote his time to volleyball, both in club and at the high school level.

“I've grown to understand volleyball and when you understand the sport deeply, I mean, obviously, I don't know everything about volleyball, but when you start to see the strategies, I think that's really cool,” he says. “For instance, when I started playing volleyball, I was thinking, you know, just jump, hit the ball over the net. That's it. But now it's beyond that. Now it's like I can see where the passer passes the ball to the center, and I'm like, ‘OK, this area is probably more open. There's probably not going to be a block here,’ or I am like ‘This is not a good set, so I have to really adjust.’”

Over the last few years, Evans has had highs and lows in competing. He’s faced almost every injury you can think of, including knee, hip, ankle, shoulder, elbow and wrist problems. Yet, he continues to find ways to overcome any obstacle thrown his way.

He says his faith has a lot to do with that.

“It kind of has two roles,” he says. “First of all, it gives meaning to my life. If I didn't have my faith, I would not be able to pour as much effort into volleyball, because it would be lackluster, like, what's the point? And then it also gives me strength. Sometimes, before games, I listen to music, like church music, and that'll help me to find strength and find an emotional balance and help me work well with my teammates.”

One of the high points of Evans’ high school volleyball career so far has been helping take down Salpointe Catholic during the first of two matchups last year, something he says he and the Thunderbolts couldn’t pull off during his freshman and sophomore years.

Mica Mountain achieved the victory by edging Salpointe Catholic 3-2 in five sets.

Evans hopes to take down the Lancers one more time before his high school volleyball career comes to a close this spring.

The Thunderbolts face the Lancers twice again this season, first on April 8 and again on April 22.

“With Andrew, he's just got that natural ability that everybody just watches him, even if they don't know who he is,” said Jane DeVries, Mica Mountain’s boys volleyball head coach. “He starts playing, he turns heads and it's not anything that he's trying to show, though; he just does it. And the fact that he can do so many different things and he doesn't complain, he doesn't ask questions, he just does it. And just the fact that, even with his hitting, there's balls where I'll get on my setter in a heartbeat, I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And he's like, ‘It's OK. I'll make it work.’ And he just puts it into play. He's just that kid and he wants to make everybody else look good.”

Since joining the boys volleyball team, his coach says he’s “put in probably the hardest work of all the athletes that I've seen throughout the program.”

When middle hitters weren’t the team’s strong suit last season, DeVries placed Evans as a middle hitter. It wasn’t his favorite position to play, but he stepped up as a leader and did it without complaint for the betterment of the team. This season, he returned to the post he loved: being an outside hitter. 

“The leadership that he shows the younger kids on the team, he's always trying to coach and instruct and help them along the way, as well,” DeVries says. “But his growth has been absolutely amazing. I can't talk enough about the growth that he's had in the sport and just as a person.”

Off the court, Evans has a plethora of hobbies, including playing the cello, journaling, and, like many teens his age, sleeping. Cello and volleyball are his main passions, though, he says.

Once Evans, who holds a 4.0 GPA, graduates this spring, he plans to go on a two-year mission through his church. He’d eventually like to play collegiate volleyball and study aerospace engineering.

His dream school is BYU.

And while this volleyball chapter is coming to a close, it’s only the beginning for Evans.

“I don't think it's going to end here,” he says. “I'm either going to play volleyball in college for a team or just in a club. So, my volleyball journey is not ending here. It's definitely sad to move on from this team. I feel like this is definitely my home team. I play for club teams and that's been great. I've had great teammates there, but this is where I belong.”

Fast Five with Andrew

What’s your pre-game routine?

I try to listen to music. During the club season, I had a playlist that was 14 songs long, because that's my number. And I definitely do my stretches.

Who is a volleyball player you would love to play with or against?

Yūki Ishikawa, from Japan. He's incredible. He's insanely so good. And then Ethan Champlin. He's a much newer player; he graduated from college two or three years ago. He's playing with the U.S. national team. They're both, like, 6-3, so they're both my height, which is why I watch them so much. And also Dillon Klein, he’s still in college and plays for USC; he's insane. He's so good.

What are three things that are always in your gym bag?

My shoes, my compression arm sleeve and snacks. (Peanut butter pretzels are his current choice in snacks.)

What’s your favorite piece to play on the cello?

“The Swan” is pretty cool. It's very slow, but it’s very calming. There's this Elgar piece that I'm playing that's pretty cool. It's a little faster. I mostly like it because it's really fun to play. It's kind of easy, but still fun, though.

What’s your favorite class in school right now?

Math. Math is very relaxing.