Gators stage major rally to claim Sunrise crown

Gathering herself with her team a point away from an improbable comeback, Green Valley's Siga Appelgate knew the final set of the Sunrise Region tournament would come her way.

With one monster swing down the line, Appelgate erased a year's worth of bad memories and sent the Gators into the Class 4A state tournament.

"I went up there, I held my breath, and I was like, 'OK, this is going down,' " Appelgate said.

That final kill completed Green Valley's resurgent effort, as the Gators (29-6) roared back from a two-game deficit to Silverado to win 22-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-11 in Friday's region championship game on the Skyhawks' home court.

Not only did Green Valley, the No. 2 seed from the Southeast League, avenge three regular-season losses to undefeated Southeast champion Silverado, the Gators got the payback they desperately sought for last year's region title match loss to the Skyhawks (29-7).

"We started thinking about (going to state) 364 days ago in that region championship game," Gators coach Erin Hill said. "We've been in the construction zone."

Hill threw her arms into the air when Appelgate's last kill landed, and the normally reserved coach bordered on shouting with excitement when she called this win the greatest in her long tenure at Green Valley.

The season is not finished for the Skyhawks, who will square off against Sunset runner-up Palo Verde on Monday for the final Southern berth to state.

Green Valley must wait to see who advances from that game before its opponent is determined. If Silverado wins, Green Valley will face the Northern champion in the semifinals; if the Panthers win, the Gators will play them.

In the deciding game, the Gators nearly gave away a 10-6 lead, but battled to come up with a huge stuff block of Silverado's Taylor Richard and Appelgate's final kill in the last few points.

Appelgate finished with 24 kills, five digs and two aces. Emma Johnson contributed 20 kills and three digs for Green Valley. Jena Chavez tallied 35 assists and three aces for the Gators, and Alexa Drost totaled 14 digs.

SUNSET REGION

Bishop Gorman needed four games to defeat Shadow Ridge, then five to outlast Centennial in its first two Sunset Region playoff games.

So it stood to reason the Gaels would be in for another long shift against Northwest League top seed Palo Verde in Friday's region title game at Silverado.

Instead, the Gaels (26-3) showed the form that produced an undefeated run through the Southwest League, rolling through the Panthers 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 to claim the Sunset championship and an automatic berth into next week's Class 4A state tournament at Silverado.

The Gaels did a little bit of everything, defending well against Joanna Sisovic and the Palo Verde (31-7) offense while generating plenty of hitting from Liz Manthei and Kylie Shaw. The Gaels won the match on a disputed block touch call on a Manthei swing that went long.

Manthei finished with 14 kills and 14 digs, and Shaw recorded 14 kills and 12 digs. Kylee Chun tallied 26 assists, and Shelby Devlin notched six blocks and six kills. Brooke McKenna totaled 22 digs.

CLASS 3A

Karlee Koopman had 19 blocks and Emily Boyster 13 as Boulder City used its defense to knock off top-seeded Virgin Valley 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 25-12 in the Class 3A Southern League final at Overton.

Boulder City (22-8) beat Moapa Valley in a semifinal match just to get into the final and will be the South's No. 1 seed at next week's Class 3A state tournament at Silverado. Virgin Valley (14-14) also qualified for state.

Kelsey Ripplinger added 30 digs in the title match for the Eagles. Offensively, Paxton Fleming dished out 27 assists, and Lexi Jorgensen had 11 kills.

In the opening match, the Eagles rallied for a 22-25, 25-9, 25-15, 25-20 win over the Pirates (8-15).

Taylor McKeever had 24 digs and Ali Rants 20 for Boulder City. Kayla Nix added 10 kills, and Dallas Frantz had eight blocks for the Eagles.

CLASS 1A

Henderson International's girls volleyball team won a postseason match for the first time with a 25-15, 18-25, 28-26, 23-25, 15-7 win over Lund in the first round of the Class 1A Southern League tournament at Desert Oasis.

Pamela Sakuma had eight kills, two blocks and two aces to lead the Wolverines (12-10), who scored the first six points in the fifth game.

Henderson International will play defending 1A state champion Lake Mead (29-4) in a semifinal, with a trip to the state tournament on the line at 10:40 a.m. today at Desert Oasis. Tonopah and Pahranagat Valley will meet in the other semifinal at 9 a.m. The championship is scheduled for 12:20 p.m.

Henderson International's Lee Harrison had seven kills and four blocks, and Kendal Short added three aces.

• Lake Mead 3, Indian Springs 0 -- Ashley Newton had 17 kills and nine digs to lead the Eagles to a 25-10, 25-10, 25-9 sweep of the Thunderbirds (4-15).

Lake Mead's Jocelyn Cox had 27 assists, seven aces and six digs. Amanda Wellman contributed nine digs and six kills, and Sam Herman added seven kills and three digs.