Dugan helps Wildcats outlast Gators

Like he has so many times before, Las Vegas outside hitter Jonathan Dugan saved the Wildcats on Wednesday.

But as it turned out, Dugan needed a little saving himself in Las Vegas' 23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 16-14 win over Green Valley in the first round of the Sunrise Region volleyball tournament at Silverado.

After a neck-twisting rally with the score tied at 14 in the deciding fifth game, Dugan caught up to an errant ball and, with his back facing the net, spun a return that barely grazed the net. The ball fell to the floor, just out of reach of three diving Gators (9-11), leaving Las Vegas coach Sue Thurman thanking the volleyball gods.

"Amen to that," Thurman said. "They were blocking tremendously at the net, and they really cut off some of our alleys. That shot -- yeah, he caught a little luck, but it was the intention to go over the block and in the middle like that.

"But really I guess right shot, right time."

Dugan jumped, dived and flailed to a game-high 29 kills -- including six in the fifth game -- 18 digs and countless floor burns for the Wildcats (16-4).

Despite the impressive offensive performance, though, Dugan was more pleased with his defensive effort.

"I had to be that captain on the court," Dugan said. "We had to dig every ball that they'd been digging all game. Yeah, it's exciting getting a kill, but when they're hitting as hard at you as they can, and you just pass it up easy, now that's very exciting."

Dugan also saved the Northeast Division on Wednesday. Earlier in the afternoon, the Southeast swept all nine games in the other three first-round matches.

Coronado, riding a 19-match winning streak after an unbeaten Southeast Division schedule, dominated Rancho, 25-16, 25-18, 25-13. Chris Austin (nine kills, two aces) and Eric Boman (eight kills, three aces) paced the Cougars (19-1), while Antonio Voucher led the Rams (8-8) with five blocks.

Up next for Coronado is Silverado, which defeated Canyon Springs (10-7), 25-22, 25-15, 27-25. The Skyhawks (11-9) were led by Preston Cooper (seven kills, seven blocks) and Trevik Jenkins (eight kills, nine digs, six blocks).

Basic will face Las Vegas in the semifinals, which continue at 3:30 p.m. today along with the Sunset Region semis.

The Wolves (18-3), led by Daniel Bowman and Jensen Lavallee with 11 kills each, defeated Desert Pines, 25-17, 25-10, 25-23. Paul Burns had 10 kills for the Jaguars (11-5).