SUNRISE VOLLEYBALL: Falcons hang tough, tame Wildcats

Chris Sisson wasn’t sure how the Foothill boys volleyball team would respond at the first sign of adversity in the postseason.

Any concerns the Falcons coach had were alleviated Tuesday.

Chansten Chow and Kendell Andrews combined for 40 kills and 17 digs, and Foothill overcame two early momentum swings to beat Las Vegas 25-22, 20-25, 25-15, 28-26 in the first round of the Sunrise Region tournament at Green Valley.

Foothill (29-10) meets Valley, a 3-1 winner over Basic, in a semifinal at 2 p.m. Thursday at Green Valley.

“It’s good they learned how to finish today,” Sisson said. “Now that they’ve tasted what it feels like to finish a game in the playoffs, they can use that going forward.”

The Falcons rallied to win the first set after Las Vegas (11-11) scored 12 consecutive points to grab a 21-18 lead. The Wildcats then answered in the second set and appeared to have Foothill in trouble.

But Foothill, which lost 3-0 to Las Vegas in the opening round of the Sunrise tournament last season and is in the playoffs for only the second time since 2006, adjusted to the Wildcats’ outside blockers in set three and regained control.

“We grabbed the momentum in the match, and we turned around and gave it right back,” Las Vegas coach Sue Thurman said. “I think our biggest mistake was not capitalizing on the momentum from Game 2.”

Foothill led 20-17 in a see-saw fourth set that saw 19 ties, and Las Vegas staved off three match points before back-to-back kills by Chow and Cory Fisher closed it out.

“At the end, we knew we had the advantage and just had to keep siding out,” Sisson said. “I knew it was just a matter of time for us to get a ball to do something with.”

Chow led the Falcons with 21 kills, eight digs and six blocks. Andrews added 19 kills and nine digs, and teammate Taeg Williams dished out 50 assists.

“We came in super hyped up, but as the match went on we weren’t going as aggressively as we should,” Andrews said. “Once we realized we need to get going, it was like we turned on the switch. We should have had it on the whole time, though.”

Blake Burgess led the Wildcats with 14 kills and four blocks. Evany Diaz had 17 assists and 11 digs for Las Vegas, and teammate Shayne Marquez added 14 assists and eight digs.

“We have a habit of letting teams back in and giving up stretches of points we don’t need to give up,” Sisson said. “But the boys did a good job adjusting.”

Silverado 3, Eldorado 1 — Curtis Hadland and Austin Hunt had 12 kills apiece, and the Skyhawks put away the Sundevils 23-25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 after an early scare.

Silverado (13-6) advances to play Coronado (22-4) in a semifinal at 5:20 p.m. on Thursday.

“The whole season has kind of been hit or miss where we’ve given a few games away,” Skyhawks coach Kevin Schwallie said. “But a win’s a win. We’re just trying to survive and get better every day.”

David Tran put away 15 kills, and Michael Thomas added 25 assists for Eldorado (11-7).

After dropping the first set, the Skyhawks slugged their way to a 14-4 lead in the second set and cruised the rest of the way. Bryan Skworzec finished with 31 assists and Travis Houston chipped in with 10 digs for Silverado.

Coronado 3, Rancho 0 — Tyler Cucullu posted eight kills and two digs, and Connor Stephenson handed out 14 assists as the 2012 state champion Cougars overwhelmed the Rams, 25-5, 25-12, 25-10.

Matt Pettit finished with seven kills and Max Osmundson notched six kills for Coronado. Teammate Coltin Romney chipped in with seven digs.

Jef Rebibes ended with four kills and five digs, and Aaron Robles contributed 11 assists and three digs for Rancho (6-16).

Valley 3, Basic 1 — Jack Heavey had 23 kills and three digs, and Sean Carter finished with 61 assists and seven digs as the Vikings survived 12 service errors and held off the Wolves, 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18.

Matt Ballaro added 20 kills and 14 digs, Lorenzo Capannolo finished with 17 kills and three digs, and David Delaney had 30 digs for Valley (24-1).

Joaquin Pequeno had eight kills, and Taylor Dyler had 14 assists for Basic (10-8), which led 12-10 in Game 4 before Heavey and Ballaro helped the Vikings pull away.