Underclassmen help Bengals top Mountain Lions

Facing a sticky situation, most teams would look to veterans for leadership.

With only two returning starters from a year ago, Bonanza’s boys volleyball team turned to a pair of sophomores.

The underclassmen stepped up Thursday.

Kellen Layne had 11 kills and two blocks, and classmate Brian Clow added six kills and three aces to help the Bengals hold off Sierra Vista, 25-21, 28-26, 22-25, 25-20 to remain undefeated in Southwest League play.

“His improvement from last year to this year has been tremendous,” Bonanza coach Joe Cap said of Layne. “He’s one of those players who, when he’s on the court, I know he’ll make good decisions. He did a lot of offseason training, and he’s put a lot of time in to get to where he is. And hopefully he continues to grow.”

Sierra Vista’s Tyler Hollings put down a booming block to win the third set, and his Mountain Lion teammates used that momentum to jump to a 10-4 lead in the fourth after the Bengals (11-2, 9-0 Southwest) had claimed the first two sets.

Hollings finished with seven kills and three blocks for Sierra Vista (7-6, 7-2).

But Layne rallied the Bengals, recording two kills and a crucial block to pace a 5-0 run that gave Bonanza a 17-16 lead and all the momentum.

A few points later, Clow stepped to the service line and served his own 5-0 run that included back-to-back aces to help finish off the win.

“The sophomores we have on varsity, they’re our emotional backbone,” Cap said. “Their level of play is there, and they’ll start stepping into those leadership roles.

“When it’s crucial points, I was glad Brian was serving and Kellen was front row.”

The Bengals have had to rely on plenty of new faces, with only senior libero Kenny Desoto and outside hitter Brycen Duckworth returning from last year’s state championship team.

Duckworth had nine kills against Sierra Vista, and Desoto logged 23 digs to anchor the defense.

“The guys want to win,” Cap said. “We did a lot of things in the offseason to get the guys close together as a family, like we had in last year’s team. It has been tough, and we try new things every game. But I think the guys we have on this squad are stepping up and playing good volleyball. But we have a lot more to grow.”

Mitchell Barnes had 41 assists and three aces for Bonanza, which got eight kills and five blocks from Kavanaugh Buck.

Paolo Lee had 20 assists and two aces for Sierra Vista, and Billy Rom supplied six kills for the Mountain Lions.