SUNSET VOLLEYBALL: Mustangs roll to tourney-opening win over Gaels

Shadow Ridge has a rich tradition in the sport of boys volleyball, and the Mustangs take it to heart.

But after a regional title a season ago, the Mustangs came into 2013 with questions, especially after losing 11 seniors.

After its first playoff match Tuesday, things are alive and well at Shadow Ridge.

Even though the Mustangs have only one senior with previous varsity experience on their roster, Shadow Ridge turned in an upper-class performance in a 25-22, 27-25, 25-18 win over Bishop Gorman at the Sunset Region Tournament at Legacy.

“After losing those many seniors, certainly there were questions about this team,” Mustangs coach Travis Underwood said. “At times, it was like flipping a coin — one side we would play well or the other side we would struggle.”

Shadow Ridge will take on Southwest League champion Centennial in the regional semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Green Valley. The other semifinal will pit Legacy against Palo Verde at 3:40 p.m. Thursday.

Shadow Ridge battled a brief moment of adversity, as the Mustangs faced four set points in the second set. However, the Mustangs got kills from Richard Sterling and Quinn Peterson to rally and win the set.

Shadow Ridge then scored the first five points in the third set and cruised to the win.

Sterling had 16 kills for Shadow Ridge (14-4), and Peterson added 11. A.J. Makaiwi had 21 digs, and Jalen Makaiwi had 38 assists.

“From the lower levels up, volleyball is very important at Shadow Ridge,” said Underwood. “That energy continues to build here, and our future is very bright.”

Jason Han had 17 digs for Gorman (5-6), and Amadeus Sowa added 19 kills and a pair of aces.

Legacy 3, Arbor View 0 — In its first playoff game in school history, Legacy made short work of the Aggies, winning 25-13, 25-18, 25-17.

Tanner Compton led the Longhorns with 14 kills and 12 digs, and Trent Compton had 10 kills. Braden Liu had 31 assists for Legacy (18-5).

Chris Heron led Arbor View (16-10) with 19 assists and seven digs. Darien Bradley had seven kills and seven digs for the Aggies, which got nine digs from Peter Peck.

Centennial 3, Sierra Vista 0 — Chet Durkin had 27 assists and Blake Frischknecht added 12 kills and three aces as the Bulldogs defeated the Mountain Lions, 25-12, 25-14, 25-21.

Hunter Stratton chipped in nine kills and three aces for the Bulldogs (16-2), and Jabarri Glover had five kills and a pair of blocks. Stefan Klancnik had four kills and one block for Sierra Vista (8-16), and teammate Julius Sison had 16 assists.

Palo Verde 3, Bonanza 0 —  Eight Panthers had at least five kills as Palo Verde rolled over the Bengals, 25-21, 25-22, 25-21.

E.J. Vanderstelt led the way for the Panthers (17-3) with nine kills, one block and one dig followed by Rich Ryerson with nine kills, two digs and an ace.

Mitchell Tingey added five kills, two digs and a block for Palo Verde, which pulled away late in all three games.

Alec Taylor had 31 assists for the Bengals (8-14), while Andrew Jensen had eight kills and Adam Puckoris had 18 digs.