Cougars advance to title match in boys volleyball
Coronado boys volleyball coach Brock Mitchell told his players in their first team meeting that this season would be a failure if the Cougars didn’t reach the state final.
That was just fine by senior outside hitter Chris Austin.
"I feel the same way," Austin said. "I play with the best outside hitter in the city (Eric Boman), the best team in the city. I love my team to death."
Now that the Cougars have reached the Class 4A state title match, they’re hoping for a grand finale today.
Coronado opened the state tournament with a 25-14, 25-14, 23-25, 25-21 semifinal win over Centennial on Tuesday at Sierra Vista.
The Sunrise Region champion Cougars (22-1) will meet Sunset winner Palo Verde (19-5) in the state final at 6 p.m. today at Sierra Vista.
Austin had 27 assists, 10 kills, five digs and two blocks. Boman contributed 26 kills, nine digs, two blocks and two aces.
Coronado didn’t trail until the third game, which featured 17 ties and seven lead changes. The Cougars held a 23-21 lead, but Blake Davidson’s kill capped a 4-0 run that the Bulldogs used to avoid a sweep.
Centennial (17-7) jumped to an 8-5 lead in the fourth game, but Coronado went on a 12-5 run and led the rest of the way.
Drew Staker had 11 kills to lead Centennial, which fell short of its third straight berth in a state final.
The Cougars will try to win their first state title today. They won 3-0 at Palo Verde on March 17.
• Palo Verde 3, Las Vegas 0 — At Sierra Vista, the Panthers cruised to a 25-21, 25-14, 25-19 sweep of the Wildcats in the other state semifinal.
Five players had at least five kills for Palo Verde, which will play today for its first state title since 2006.
"It’s a good trait," Panthers senior outside hitter Tyler Capko said of his team’s offensive balance. "When we’re passing good, Matt (Lish) has the opportunity to spread the ball around to everyone and use all our weapons."
Lish, a senior setter, had 31 assists.
"When we pass well, then teams don’t know where the ball’s going to go," Palo Verde coach Phil Clarke said. "It helps us out a ton. Obviously Capko’s still our go-to guy, but they can’t just load up and have two on him."
Capko and Shaun Carroll had nine kills each for the Panthers. Andrew Topham and Jalyn Martin tallied six kills each.
With Capko sidelined earlier this season with an ankle injury, the Panthers wound up third in the Northwest League. But they enter the state final on a six-match winning streak.
Danny Farias had 27 assists to lead Las Vegas (18-6), which fell short in trying to win a second straight state title.
Contact reporter Tristan Aird at taird@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203.