Family vibe propels Las Vegas to Sunrise volleyball trophy

When walking around the Las Vegas High campus, one constantly hears that it is a “family.”

With three sets of brothers on the squad, the Wildcats’ boys volleyball team played like a family Friday, cruising to a 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 win over visiting Foothill to claim the Division I Sunrise Region title. The Wildcats and Falcons qualify for next week’s state tournament.

Las Vegas, though, will go in with plenty of momentum.

“So many times, teams work hard and never achieve something like this,” Las Vegas coach Justin Graham said. “I couldn’t be more happy for this group. It’s a special time for this program, students and administration.”

Before a loud student section, the Wildcats played with a lot more energy, especially late in each set.

“We got outplayed, it’s that simple,” Foothill coach Chris Sisson said. “Vegas played a solid match, and they played much better defense than we did.”

In the first set, the Wildcats used an 8-2 run, paced by kills from Ryan Magante and Brandon Kampshoff, to take an 18-10 lead. The Falcons never got closer than six points thereafter.

There were six ties during the second set, and it appeared Foothill had shaken its first-set jitters. But Las Vegas again found that key spurt, fueled by two kills by Magante and one each by Royce Reyes and Paul Swenson, to grab a two-game lead.

Las Vegas consistently got kills by its front line and scored nine of the final 11 points to close out the match.

“When things got tough during the year, this group stayed together like a family,” Graham said. “This team banded together, and they deserve this title.”

Luis Wong compiled 29 assists for the Wildcats (14-10), and Magante had 12 kills and five digs. Antonio Wong added 15 digs, and Ronell Sueno finished with nine kills and two blocks.

Branson Diaz had eight kills and three blocks to lead Foothill (23-14). Shilo Chow added 26 assists and five digs, and Colin Curi had five kills and three digs.

SUNSET REGION

Defending state champion Legacy needed seven match points before downing Palo Verde 17-25, 25-20, 26-24, 28-30, 16-14 for the Sunset Region crown.

The match lasted 2 hours, 17 minutes and featured two inadvertent whistles and two red cards awarded.

“I’ve never been involved in a game with so many upswings and momentum changes,” Legacy coach Ray Lewis said. “We tried everything to put Palo away, and they kept fighting.”

Zaire Franklin led the Longhorns with 24 kills, 23 digs and a block. Anthony Madden supplied 15 kills, 19 digs, three blocks and two aces for Legacy (18-6).

“No one gave us a chance early on with only three returning starters, but we’re back at the state tournament,” Lewis said.

Michael Simister, who was given a red card during the first point of the final set, led the Panthers (30-11) with 22 kills and 15 digs. Cole Willson added 44 assists and 16 digs for Palo Verde, which fought off five match points in the fourth set to force the decisive game.