Gators contain Cowboys

In high school girls volleyball, the disparity between players and coach often is striking.

Players sing, cheer, jump off their seats and dive to the floor with reckless abandon.

The coach usually is a solitary figure, a statue, no words, no pulse.

But a fire is burning inside, and on Wednesday, Green Valley coach Erin Hill's was scorching, and rightfully so.

Her Gators capitalized on several Chaparral mistakes in the first round of the Sunrise Region tournament at Silverado, distancing themselves as the match went on and winning, 25-20, 25-16, 25-16.

"I try to contain myself," Hill said. "I have the philosophy of, 'Make a few corrections and turn in a lineup.' I don't want to over-coach. But don't think I'm not as excited as them."

Led by a combined nine aces by outside hitter Siga Applegate and Sydney Brozovich, Green Valley (15-5) consistently exploited the serve receive of Chaparral (15-6).

"We served very aggressively, very offensively," Hill said. "That's what we've been working on. We've hoped to take people out of their games by serving at their swing hitters. When you're attacking and getting defenses back on their heels and catching them in transition, it gives you better chance for success."

Added Chaparral coach Matt Golightly: "We came in today scared; you could tell at the very beginning of the first game. And you just have those days where you can't pass or keep the serve in, and it always seems to happen against better teams."

What frustrated Golightly most was his players' inability to rebound from a bad play. Volleyball is a game of momentum and energy, and as the pendulum swung to Green Valley's side, some Cowboys were visibly affected.

In turn, that led to more poor passing.

"It's frustrating because if you're not passing and you're not serving, you're taking yourself out of the game," Golightly said. "If we served the ball in and put up decent passes, we'd give ourselves a chance to play with them."

Up for grabs in the match was a spot against the winner of Silverado-Canyon Springs. And almost immediately, it was evident that would be the Skyhawks.

Playing in its home gym, Silverado (17-1) made quick work of the Pioneers (7-10), jumping to an 11-1 lead in the first game and never letting up in a 25-9, 25-7, 25-17 win.

Setter Rebecca Agae put the ball in perfect placement. Outside hitters Taylor Richard (nine kills) and Penina Wiley (five kills) and middle blocker Jessica Schmidt (four kills) benefited most.

Likewise, Sam McCosh directed a balanced effort for Coronado (17-3) on Wednesday afternoon. McCosh's 32 assists were evenly spread around in the Cougars' 25-17, 25-6, 25-17 win over Rancho (10-8), primarily finding Jennifer Singer (12 kills, six digs) and Mikayla Delobel (11 kills, three blocks).

In the day's final match, Las Vegas (15-5) survived a scare in each game to defeat Basic, 25-21, 25-14, 25-16. Just when it seemed the Wildcats would crumble, they held tough, as the Wolves (12-9) couldn't finish at the end.

Las Vegas received solid all-around efforts from Chenoa Rossi-Childress (nine kills, 12 digs, six blocks, three aces), Jennifer Gliddon (seven kills, seven digs, four blocks), Cassie Lindsay (23 assists, eight digs) and Danica Pickett (seven digs, six kills).

Today's regional semifinals open with Durango vs. Palo Verde at 3 p.m., followed by Silverado vs. Green Valley, Sierra Vista vs. Centennial and Las Vegas vs. Coronado. All will be played at Silverado.