SUNSET VOLLEYBALL: Goor, Longhorns stun Aggies

Legacy volleyball coach Raymond Lewis called his team together in the final minute of warm-ups prior to the Longhorns’ Sunset Region quarterfinal match against Arbor View, the No. 1 seed from the Northwest League.

Lewis told his team to play relaxed and good things would happen.

Lewis couldn’t have been more prophetic as the Longhorns (12-18), the No. 4 seed from the Southwest League, stunned the Aggies, 25-23, 29-27, 25-21. The victory was also a measure of revenge for Legacy as Arbor View swept the Longhorns earlier this season.

“This feels awesome,” Lewis said. “We’ve told the girls all year that we believe we are in the toughest division, and if we just continue to play hard and fight every day that we would be capable of winning in the playoffs.

“We had a lot of fun. We talked about managing our emotions and playing confident the entire time and not playing nervous volleyball. We had nothing to lose tonight, and obviously we came out with a lot to gain.”

The Longhorns tough regular-season schedule helped them get off to a strong start and put early pressure on the young Aggies, who seemed to wilt under the playoff pressure. Legacy remained relaxed during the match, even during the second set, which they eventually won 29-27. The Longhorns took early control of the third set and held on to sweep the match.

“We worked in practice on trying to stop and slow down their outside hitters,” Lewis said. “We talked about our places to score on the court. We worked on a lot of placement shots and tipping to short areas. We also talked about serving aggressively, and I put the game in the hands of my senior, Ashly Goor. She really stepped up and won this game for us tonight.”

Goor was key in stopping several Arbor View rallies with kills. She finished with 26 kills and 13 digs. Saipeti Fuiava had 36 assists, three kills, four aces and 23 digs, and Myah Maxwell added 14 kills and three aces for the Longhorns.

Jenna McClure led the Aggies (19-18) with 22 assists, seven digs and three kills. Karli Beas had 15 digs for Arbor View.

Legacy plays Palo Verde in the semifinals at 3:45 p.m. Thursday at Silverado. The Panthers swept the Longhorns on Oct. 29.

Bishop Gorman 3, Bonanza 0 — The Gaels, the No. 3 seed from the Southwest, shocked the Bengals, the No. 2 seed from the Northwest, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21

The Gaels (11-13) were dominant from start to finish in their sweep.

“We are peaking at the right time, although it didn’t look it there at times,” Gorman coach Ed Van Meetren said. “It was not one of our prettier matches, but it was functional and it got the job done.”

Vashti Cunningham led the Gaels with 14 kills, and she provided a much-needed spark in the third set with two kills after the Bengals took a short-lived 16-15 lead. Victoria Ewalefo had six kills and three blocks, Danni Redding had six kills, and Alexis Bradford had 19 assists for Gorman.

Sophie Cram had 12 kills and five blocks to lead the Bengals (25-13). Hayley Huntsman had 15 assists and four blocks, and teammate Claire Goodsell had 26 digs and three aces for the Bengals.

The Gaels play Shadow Ridge at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Silverado High School in the second round of the playoffs.

Palo Verde 3, Centennial 0 — Makenzie Paulk had 38 assists and six kills as the Panthers swept the Bulldogs, the Northwest’s No. 3 seed, 25-20, 25-13, 25-15.

The Panthers (27-9) fell behind 3-0 early in the first set, but after settling down, they were dominant the rest of the match. The only other lead Centennial had was 3-1 early in the third set.

Kendall Cheval added 18 kills and 17 digs for the Panthers. Faryn Duncan had 34 digs, and Aaliah Largusa had eight kills for Palo Verde.

Deven Vieira had six kills and five blocks to lead the Bulldogs (10-21). Kjersten Saunders had 12 digs, two kills and one ace, and Hannah Hitchcock had 10 digs and 12 assists for Centennial.

Shadow Ridge 3, Desert Oasis 0 — The Mustangs made quick work of the Diamondbacks, 25-6, 25-5, 25-12.

Chloe Gruwell led Shadow Ridge (23-9) with four aces, 12 kills and six digs. Eadara Files had three aces, 27 assists and seven digs, and Ashley Smith, had two aces, eight kills and seven digs for the Mustangs.

Lauren Rios led the Diamondbacks (10-23) with three kills and three digs.