Coronado, Palo Verde cruise to volleyball championships

Facing the Coronado High boys volleyball team is tough enough at full strength. Doing it without one of its best players proved to be an insurmountable task for Foothill on Friday.

Tyler Cucullu had 12 kills and 16 digs, and Matt Pettit added 12 kills and 11 digs as defending state champion Coronado swept short-handed Foothill 25-19, 25-14, 25-22 in the final of the Sunrise Region tournament at Green Valley.

It is the second region title in the past three years for the Cougars (24-4) and fourth overall. Both teams advance to the Division I state tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Chaparral.

“We didn’t want to bypass this game,” said libero Coltin Romney, one of 11 seniors for Coronado. “We want to put as many banners as possible on the wall and get ourselves ready for state.”

The Falcons (30-11) played most of the match without Chansten Chow. The senior, who had a team-high 16 kills in the semifinal win over Valley, was hit in the face with a ball during warmups, and Foothill coach Chris Sisson said he was showing concussionlike symptoms.

Chow’s kill gave Foothill an 8-6 lead in the first set, but he went to the bench later in the set. After being evaluated by trainers in the locker room, Chow watched the third set from the end of the bench.

“For a senior, it’s heartbreaking to have that happen,” Sisson said. “We had to move the kids around into positions they don’t practice a ton. But I’m proud of the fact we rallied.”

Foothill never led in the second set, but was up 16-15 in the third set after one of Kendell Andrews’ 15 kills. Pettit’s back-row tip evened the match, and the Cougars reeled off six of the next eight points — Max Osmundson had two of his 10 kills in the run — to pull away.

SUNSET REGION

Palo Verde coach Phil Clarke has been waiting for his team to put together a complete match. The Panthers picked the right time to do it.

Mitchell Tingey had seven kills and 13 assists, Brigham Clawson had seven kills, and Andrew Weston dished out 37 assists as Palo Verde shut down Centennial, 25-15, 25-20, 25-17.

It is the first region title since 2009 for the Panthers (19-3), who lost in the final last season. Palo Verde scored the final eight points to win the first set and pulled away in the second set after the teams were tied at 18.

Blake Frischknecht led the Bulldogs (17-3) with 14 kills. Hunter Stratton had seven kills for Centennial, and teammate Conner Morris added 14 digs.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.