Rancho beats Del Sol, ends decade-long skid

With nine seniors on the roster, Rancho's boys volleyball team wanted to prolong its season.

The Rams did that Tuesday, breaking a 10-year postseason winless streak with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of Del Sol in the first round of the Sunrise Region boys volleyball tournament at Las Vegas High.

"It feels really good -- we've worked really hard, especially since last year (a 3-2 loss to Basic in the first round)," said middle blocker David Silva, who had six kills and two blocks for the Rams. "Ever since then, we've been focused on getting far in the playoffs."

The Dragons (12-7) looked to come back in the third game, but a timely kill by Kevin Plascencia and a thumping spike by Silva tied the score at 11-11, and the Rams (14-4) never looked back.

"We just play with great composure," Silva said."I don't think we let any team rattle us. If we start playing bad, we just talk, and say 'Let's get going; this is easy.' "

Antonio Boucher had 12 kills for the Rams, and Kamran Baig distributed 27 assists. Plascencia finished with 10 kills, 11 digs and two aces.

"I love it," Boucher said of breaking his team's playoff drought.

Rancho will face Coronado (19-0) on Thursday at Palo Verde. The Cougars stayed undefeated with a 3-0 sweep of Desert Pines.

Nick Maglaras had 18 assists for Del Sol, and Kevin Fitzpatrick added seven kills and four blocks.

■ Silverado 3, Valley 0 -- The Skyhawks grounded the Vikings 25-12, 25-11, 25-11 to advance to the second round.

Casey Hadland had 26 assists, three kills and four aces for Silverado (16-3), and Brian Theophil had eight kills for the Skyhawks.

Carl Ajuziem dished out 10 assists for the Vikings (10-8), and Julio Fierro had six kills.

■ Coronado 3, Desert Pines 0 -- Chris Andrulis had 10 kills, five blocks and two aces to lead the Cougars to a 25-8, 25-10, 25-12 rout of the Jaguars.

Bryan Arana added seven kills for Coronado (19-0), and Hunter Chaney had 25 assists and two aces.

Michael Tran had nine assists for the Jaguars (10-8). Daniel Aguilar had 29 digs for Desert Pines.

■ Las Vegas 3, Basic 0 -- Luke Hansen tallied 35 assists, five kills, two blocks and an ace to lead the Wildcats past the Wolves, 25-17, 25-17, 25-16.

Braeden Wilson posted 15 kills for Las Vegas (17-2). Trevor Hardy added 12 kills and Chris Gbelay five kills for the Wildcats.

Joseph Thomas finished with six kills and two blocks for the Wolves (10-9). Stephen Udall dished out 20 assists, and Jordan Pils struck 10 kills.

SUNSET REGION

■ Bonanza 3, Arbor View 2 -- The match and the season along with it were on the brink of collapse for Bonanza's boys volleyball team Tuesday.

But after squandering a two-game lead, the Bengals regrouped in the fifth and avoided an upset with a 25-18, 25-21, 16-25, 25-27, 15-11 victory over Arbor View in a Sunset Region quarterfinal at Palo Verde.

"I told the guys, 'How bad do you want it?' " Bonanza coach Joe Cap said in the huddle before the fifth game. "'You want to lay down and die, or do you want to play again on Thursday?'"

Southwest League champion Bonanza (12-6) earned the latter.

The Bengals will meet Centennial (16-3) in a semifinal Thursday at Palo Verde with a trip to the state tournament on the line.

Arbor View (11-8), the No. 4 seed from the Northwest, jumped to a 4-2 to lead in the fifth game, but Bonanza rallied to take a 10-7 edge. The Bengals completed the surge with Jared Hyer's kill to end the match.

Jared Harrington had 11 kills and Jason Bedford added 10 kills for Bonanza. Dustin Tippetts dished out 26 assists for the Bengals.

Kirby Mengert led Arbor View with 11 kills, 19 digs and four blocks. Kealyn Butler added 13 kills for the Aggies, and Taylor Jones tallied 43 assists.

■ Centennial 3, Spring Valley 0 -- Leo Durkin had 37 assists to help the Bulldogs cruise to a 25-16, 25-22, 25-19 sweep.

Ryan Ramin had 10 kills and five blocks for Centennial, which led the entire second game and never trailed by more than a point in the other two.

Dex Tidwell had nine kills for Centennial, and Mike Robinson supplied eight kills and three aces.

Jayvin Garcia had eight kills for Spring Valley (13-6). Dallas Teshima had 24 assists for the Grizzlies.

■ Palo Verde 3, Bishop Gorman 0 -- Drew Topham had 11 kills, five digs and three blocks to help the Panthers roll to a 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 sweep.

Palo Verde (13-6) will face Shadow Ridge (18-1) in a semifinal Thursday.

Nick Hipwell contributed 13 kills and eight digs for the Panthers, and Trent Gneiting added nine kills and 14 digs. Sean Wilson tallied 31 assists, seven digs and four blocks for Palo Verde.

Ryan Parks and Ronnie Stanley had eight kills each for Gorman (11-6).

■ Shadow Ridge 3, Clark 0 -- Zach Hafen had 10 kills and nine digs to lift the Mustangs to a 25-14, 25-17, 25-18 sweep of the Chargers.