FOUNTAIN >> Future Legacy boys volleyball teams can learn a valuable lesson from the Lightning’s run at the Class 5A state tournament.

Small mistakes can turn into big problems.

After beating Grandview in five sets on Day 1 of the tournament, it was the Wolves who played a much cleaner brand of the game, sending Legacy home Saturday with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 sweep at Fountain-Fort Carson’s Trojan Arena.

“They had beaten (defending champion) Mountain Vista, so we knew they’d be on a high,” senior setter Rafa Urbina said. “That’s how that team is. They have very high highs and very low lows. And they were on a high. We didn’t catch them on a low like we did on Thursday.”

The momentum that Grandview had from knocking out the Golden Eagles carried over as they jumped out to quick leads in the first two sets.

In an elimination setting, playing from behind is never ideal. Compounded with hitting, block and service errors, the Lightning (23-5) just never looked settled, although they were certainly confident heading into the match.

“You can always be confident, but once you’re on the court, little things happen,” coach Jorge Urbina said. “That can turn a game one way or the other, and today, Grandview had that.”

The win in the first set was comfortable, and the win the in the second set was decisive. But early in the third set, Legacy looked more like the team that had steamrolled through regionals last weekend.

A devastating kill from Elijah Pulliam put the Lightning up 8-4, but they couldn’t pull away to avoid the sweep. Although the season came to heartbreaking end, this year could serve as a major pillar for the future of the team.

Legacy is a district team for Adams 12 and played under the Thornton banner a year ago. The team made it to regionals and state, and even did it without Rafa Urbina, a UCLA commit, as he competes for USA Volleyball as well as his high school.

He currently plays for the U19 team and has chance to play in multiple international tournaments this summer.

But at his core, he wants to see the high school program at Legacy succeed. And the first step might just be getting to state and building enthusiasm for the program in order to increase participation.

“I want more kids to play,” he said. “That’s the biggest goal. We had no cuts this year for our whole program. We need more bodies and need them to love the game, have passion and have fire. If you just want to have fun, go play rec volleyball. That’s what it’s there for. This is competitive.”

Coach Urbina, Rafa’s father, shared the same sentiment. He has seen his son play in high-level national tournaments but believes Colorado high school volleyball — which now plays with two classifications — provides an intense atmosphere as well.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” the coach said.

The Lightning lose six seniors from this year’s roster. Elisha Tao, Kalon Snyder, Isaiah Sim and Troy Mota join Pulliam and Urbina as players departing the program.

But a weekend at Trojan Arena might be the push the program needs to see the growth that it needs to be playing in the final match of a long weekend.