Bishop Gorman girls volleyball beats Coronado for Nevada 5A region title

Bishop Gorman’s girls volleyball team had already faced Coronado twice in the regular season, as opposed to having to wait until the playoffs like the previous two seasons.

Even though the Gaels had to earn their win in the Class 5A Southern Region title match, they had a fully developed game plan for playing the Cougars.

Gorman, the Desert League’s No. 1 seed, showed why it is the heavy favorite to win its third straight 5A state title in a 25-18, 25-21, 25-12 win over Coronado, the Desert League’s No. 2 seed, to claim its third straight region title Saturday at Legacy High School.

“The good thing is that these kids followed the game plan exactly like they were supposed to,” Gorman coach Gregg Nunley said. “Serve tough, take (Coronado’s) middle (blocker) out, and that’s what happened. We knew it was going to be an outside versus outside (hitters) match and that’s what it ended up with.”

Gorman (31-8) and Coronado (25-10) both advance to the state tournament at Sunrise Mountain, which begins Friday with the state semifinals.

The Gaels, the South’s No. 1 seed, will play Carson, the North’s No. 2 seed, at 6:20 p.m. in one state semifinal. Coronado, the South’s No. 2 seed, will play Northern champion Bishop Manogue in the other semifinal at 8. The 5A state title match is noon Saturday at Sunrise Mountain.

“It feels good because we didn’t know if we could beat them as many times as we faced them in conference,” Gorman senior outside hitter Ayanna Watson said. “We pulled it off even when we had to change our game plan based on what they were doing, so that was pretty good of us.”

Watson, a Pitt commit, led Gorman with 18 kills and teammate and fellow Pitt commit Trinity Thompson, a senior setter, added 27 assists and had several key blocks. The Gaels had swept Coronado in three sets in the teams’ two meetings in Desert League play.

“We play them all the time and they know what we do best and we know what they do best,” Watson said. “It’s hard to beat the same people multiple times. The way we would play defense around our block was a lot better than it has been against them. When they went on a run, we were able to pull ourselves together and come back.”

‘Did their jobs’

Watson and Thompson have been the focus of Gorman’s offense, but the Gaels also got strong play from senior middle blocker Ellie Prindl — five kills and six blocks — and sophomore outside hitter Boyana Pesic, with 11 kills.

Nunley also credited sophomore middle blocker Caira Tasi and senior right side Charlie Wilson, who both contributed several key blocks and kills to help limit Coronado’s strong outside hitters.

“(Tasi) played so well when we played (Coronado) the last time and had a really great week of practice, so we felt like we had to go with her,” Nunley said. “Caira and Charlie did their jobs. They did what we practiced all week. Caira’s a student of the game, she did a really great job.”

‘Push back harder’

It was close in the first two sets. Coronado got within 17-16 in the first set after Gentry Oblad had a kill and ace during a three-point run for the Cougars. But Gorman scored the last five points, benefiting from several Coronado errors, to win the first set 25-18.

Oblad had three kills during a 6-0 run that gave Coronado a brief 16-14 lead in the second set. Again, the Gaels answered and several Coronado errors gave them the lead. Watson’s kill on match point gave the Gaels the second set.

“Coronado pushed us again today,” Nunley said. “Those first two sets, they kind of pushed and the good thing is we’re teaching them that when you get pushed, you push back harder. That’s what happened today and these kids really wanted it.”

Wilson and Prindl helped Gorman dominate the third set at the net as the Gaels used a 5-0 run to lead 13-7 midway through the final set on their way to the sweep. Oblad, a Grand Canyon commit, finished with 12 kills for Coronado.

Class 3A

No. 2 The Meadows 3, No. 4 Moapa Valley 2: At The Meadows, the Mustangs (21-9) rebounded after losing the third and fourth sets to claim a 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-10 win over the Pirates (12-21) in the 3A Southern Region title match. Both teams advance to the 3A state tournament at Fernley.

The Meadows, the South’s No. 1 seed, will play Dayton, the North’s No. 2 seed, at 8 p.m. Friday in one state semifinal. Moapa Valley, the South’s No. 2 seed, will play Northern champion Truckee at 6:30 Friday in the other semifinal. The state title match is at noon Saturday.

The Mustangs have won four straight state titles, the last two 3A titles and the 2A titles in 2021 and 2022.

Other scores

2A Southern League playoffs

Saturday at GV Christian

Semifinals

No. 1 GV Christian 3, No. 4 Founders Academy 0

No. 2 White Pine 3, No. 3 Lincoln County 2

Championship game

No. 1 GV Christian 3, No. 2 White Pine 0

1A Southern League playoffs

Saturday at Pahranagat Valley

Semifinals