Coronado’s Arana leads Cougars to Southeast honors

At 5 feet 10 inches, Coronado’s Bryan Arana isn’t the stereotypical volleyball player with long, swinging arms and a tall torso.

But when Southeast League coaches voted on the league’s Most Valuable Player, the senior outside hitter highlighted the Cougars’ 10 all-league honorees.

“My parents always told me that a player’s only as good as his team,” the senior said, “and I definitely owe my team for it.”

Coronado’s Hunter Chaney, Chris Andrulis and Bryan Glenn also were awarded first-team honors, and Matt Johnson was voted Coach of the Year.

“It is a very humbling honor to have your fellow coaches that you’ve worked with, and some of these coaches are my friends,” Johnson said. “To have them give me this honor is humbling.

“There are a lot of coaches who work just as hard as I do and some of them more with less and — to a certain degree — maybe I’m not deserving of Coach of the Year, because there are so many coaches that work just as hard but don’t have the year-round players that I have.”

Johnson said identifying teaching moments for off-the-court use is as important as improving on the court each season.

“Yeah, I want to win the match, but I felt there were a lot of opportunities to learn and get better,” said Johnson, whose Cougars (20-2) finished undefeated in the regular season. “Those are 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids out there, and losing is not the end of the world out there.

“I tell them to look for the learning experiences — and not just in volleyball, but for their personalities. Hopefully they learn some lessons.”

Johnson, a collegiate volleyball player, said the sport helped teach him hard work and persistence, which he tries to instill in all of his players.

“Those who work hardest and put the time in the gym, the weight room and the track, will be rewarded,” he said. “Sometimes the rewards don’t happen right away, but if you are patient, good things will come.”

Silverado’s Casey Hadland, Rusty Santiago and Brian Theophil, as well as Basic’s Jordan Pils, rounded out the all-league first team.

With eight seniors on the team, Coronado also received key contributions from junior first-team hitter Andrulis.

“We have a lot of raw talent,” Arana said. “Our team’s only getting better.”

Transitioning to the leadership-heavy role of his final year in high school was among Arana’s biggest adjustments.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “It definitely showed (in the Cougars’ region final loss to Las Vegas). It’s just a lot of pressure, and we’ve just got to balance it out.”

Braeden Wilson of Las Vegas High was named Northeast MVP, and Rancho’s Allegra Derzon took Coach of the Year honors.

The all-Northeast first team looked like a Hyde Park Middle School reunion, with Wilson being reunited with old friends Antonio Boucher, Kevin Plascencia and Adam Johnson of Rancho. Las Vegas’ Trevor Hardy and Luke Hansen, Valley’s Carl Ajuziem and Desert Pine’s Dominique Lawrence also took home first-team recognition.

Southwest MVP went to Bonanza’s Jason Bedford, and Linda Silver of Clark was voted Coach of the Year in a league that had five schools represented on the first team.

Spring Valley’s Jayvin Garcia and Dallas Teshima, Bishop Gorman’s Alex Turner and Cameron Tom, Sierra Vista’s Cody Seager, Bonanza’s Jared Harrington and Clark’s George Huang filled out the all-Southwest first team.

Shadow Ridge opposite Jake Shea earned Northwest MVP honors, and Centennial’s Scott Nelson was named Coach of the Year.

Centennial had three first-team honorees in setter Leo Durkin, left-side hitter Matt Kurtz and Tyler Rogers. Shadow Ridge’s Jeremy Makaiwi and Taylor Lancaster and Arbor View’s Kirby Mengert also were named to the team.