Gritty Foothill handles Valley, moves to final against Coronado

Chansten Chow dived for a ball late in the fourth set Thursday and crashed face-first into the bottom row of bleachers.

The Foothill senior didn’t mind one bit.

“You don’t need teeth to be in state, anyways,” Chow said.

Chow finished with 16 kills, six digs and four blocks as the Falcons upended Northeast League champion Valley 25-20, 29-27, 21-25, 25-21 in a semifinal of the Sunrise Region boys volleyball tournament at Green Valley.

Foothill (30-10) will meet 2012 Class 4A state champion Coronado (23-4), a 3-0 winner over Silverado, in the region final at 5 p.m. today at Green Valley. The teams split their two Southeast League matches during the regular season.

Both teams advance to the Division I state tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Chaparral.

Foothill never trailed in the first set and benefited from a key no-call late in the second set. The Falcons appeared to be guilty of a net violation as Lorenzo Capannolo went up for a kill that would have put Valley (27-8) on top 24-21. Instead, Kendell Andrews put away one of his 15 kills, and Foothill survived two more set points before Chow’s ace gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead.

“It was a crucial game. It gave Foothill a big advantage,” Vikings coach Matt Porter said. “But one call doesn’t win or lose a game. We’re concerned with things we can control. That’s our focus.”

Sean Carter’s solo block on Chow sparked the Vikings late in the third set, and Jack Heavey started to heat up after Foothill held him in check early on. But the Falcons went ahead 23-21 in the final set when Austin Krause’s serve hit the top of the net and fell in. After an Andrews kill, he combined with Caleb Hutchinson to stuff Heavey on match point.

Heavey led the Vikings with 16 kills, and Matt Ballaro added 14 kills. Carter dished out 34 assists for Valley.

■ Coronado 3, Silverado 0 — The Cougars set the tone by scoring the first five points and rolled to a 25-20, 25-21, 25-12 win over the Skyhawks (13-7) in a rematch of last season’s Class 4A state final.

Tyler Cucullu had 14 kills and 12 digs, Max Osmundson and Matt Pettit added 13 kills, and Connor Stephenson finished with 43 assists for Coronado.

Silverado standout Curtis Hadland was limited to 11 kills.

SUNSET REGION

Blake Frischknecht did most of the heavy lifting, but it was Hunter Stratton that got Centennial over the finish line.

Frischknecht finished with 26 kills, and Stratton added seven of his 22 kills in the final set to help the Bulldogs beat defending region champion Shadow Ridge, 25-27, 26-24, 25-23, 25-16.

Centennial, the Southwest League champion, meets Northwest No. 1 seed Palo Verde (18-3) in the final at 7 p.m. today at Green Valley. Both teams advance to the Division I state tournament.

The Mustangs (14-5) led 14-9 in the third set after a kill by Quinn Peterson, but Centennial was able to side out and scored eight of the next 10 points to go up, 18-16. Frischknecht’s tip closed out the set, and the Bulldogs jumped out to a 20-13 lead in the fourth set before pulling away.

Stratton’s dink gave Centennial (17-2) match point, and Frischknecht teamed with Terrell Hicks for a block on Richard Sterling to end it.

Sterling had 17 kills, Peterson added 16 kills, and Jalen Makaiwi handed out 45 assists for Shadow Ridge.

■ Palo Verde 3, Legacy 0 — E.J. Vanderstelt (12 kills) and Brigham Clawson (11 kills) led a balanced offensive attack, and the Panthers topped the Longhorns (18-6), 25-19, 25-21, 25-21.

Tanner Compton had 15 kills, Trent Compton added eight kills, and Braden Liu finished with 31 assists for Legacy.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.