Robinson steers Sierra Vista to win

As a senior team leader, Brooke Robinson knows its her job to help pilot Sierra Vista's girls volleyball team.

The Mountain Lions outside hitter did just that Tuesday in a 25-16, 24-26, 25-13, 25-19 victory over Shadow Ridge in the Sunset Region quarterfinals at Legacy.

"It's my senior year and I'm ready to go," said Robinson, who had 23 kills, 10 blocks and three aces. "But it's just one game at a time. This was just one of the speed bumps on our way."

Sierra Vista (23-3) breezed to a first-set win behind the strong play of setter Morgan Malone, who finished with 41 assists, four aces and two kills.

But the Mustangs (17-16) took the second set on clutch spikes by Destinee Beavers, who finished with 11 kills, and Niehely Sosa, who added 10 kills.

After that set, Robinson reminded her team about the importance of playing together.

"We just looked at each other and said 'teamwork,' " Robinson said. "We can do this; we knew we can. We just have to stay mentally strong. We've practiced for this, so we needed to go out there, have fun, mentally dominate and light them up."

The pep talk worked. The Mountain Lions started the third set on a 15-5 run, and Shadow Ridge failed to find a consistent hitting streak.

Vanna Wilkes added 12 blocks, eight kills and two aces for the Mountain Lions.

Shadow Ridge's Rachel Childers had 31 assists.

Sierra Vista plays Centennial in the semifinals at 3:40 p.m. Thursday at Las Vegas High.

■ Faith Lutheran 3, Bonanza 0 -- Taylor Hammer had 12 kills, three blocks and two aces and Kelsey McCourt added 31 assists as the Crusaders (23-10) defeated the Bengals (15-10), 25-22, 25-22, 25-20.

Taylor Richards added nine kills and Chelsea Kronschnabel had 10 digs for Faith Lutheran.

The Crusaders will face Bishop Gorman in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Las Vegas.

Bree Hammel paced Bonanza with 18 kills and two blocks, and Lauren Karn dished out 27 assists.

■ Bishop Gorman 3, Arbor View 0 -- Liz Manthei had 10 assists, 10 kills and three aces, leading the Gaels (28-8) to a 25-6, 28-26, 25-15 victory over the Aggies (19-12).

Kylee Chun added 16 assists and three aces for Gorman, and Shelby Devlin supplied six kills and seven blocks.

Arbor View's Lorin Rader had 12 assists, and Micaila McErlean added five kills.

■ Centennial 3, Pahrump Valley 0 -- Allison Tatom had 13 kills and 10 blocks to lead the Bulldogs (28-7) past the Trojans, (19-15), 25-19, 25-14, 26-24.

Centennial's Lacy Miyahira added 24 assists, 11 digs and five aces. Ashley Hill had 18 digs and five aces for the Bulldogs.

Alyson Kunzi led Pahrump with six assists, two kills and two blocks. Taylor McJunkin added six kills, and Megan Hamrick posted three blocks for the Trojans.

SUNRISE REGION

Las Vegas High battled from start to finish to finally defeat Basic 26-24, 25-13, 18-25, 25-23 in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals at Las Vegas.

The Wildcats (19-6) play Green Valley (25-9) at 2 p.m. Thursday. Silverado (19-13) and Coronado (28-5) will play in the other semifinal at 5:20.

"When the playoffs start, it's a whole new season," said Las Vegas coach Sue Thurman, whose squad was the only team from the Northeast League to advance. "In the playoffs, you can get butterflies and unexpected things can happen."

The Wolves (17-16) kept the score tight in the first set, and neither team ever led by more than three points. But the Wildcats rallied from a 24-21 deficit by scoring the set's final five points.

Basic appeared lethargic in the second set, and Las Vegas took advantage.

With her team clinging to a 14-11 lead, Desirae Lair served eight consecutive times, logging three aces, to turn the set into a laugher.

But the Wolves came back to life in the third set, taking an early lead and cruising to cut their deficit to 2-1.

"With all the things we did right in that second game, we turned right around and didn't make the same adjustments that had worked," Thurman said.

Las Vegas pulled away midway through the fourth set and appeared to have control at 20-15. But Basic fought back one more time to tie the score at 20 on a Wildcats violation.

The score remained close until Loren Acluba's long set attempt appeared to inadvertently sail over the net. It went untouched by the Wolves for the game-winning point.

Breanna Melton had 15 digs and 13 kills to lead Las Vegas, and Tiffany Jackson had 36 assists and eight digs.

Tara Patchett led Basic with 11 kills, and teammate Jaclyn Foutz finished with seven kills.

■ Green Valley 3, Sunrise Mountain 0 -- Carly Schiess and Nikki Drost had nine kills apiece to help the Gators cruise past the Miners, (14-10), 25-11, 25-12, 25-14.

Alexa Drost added six aces and three digs for Green Valley.

■ Silverado 3, Eldorado 0 -- Kayla Agae had 14 kills, eight digs and five aces to lead the Skyhawks to a 25-10, 25-9, 25-12 win over the Sundevils.

Lauren Tegtmeier helped Silverado with eight kills and four aces.

Candace Watkins logged four kills to lead Eldorado (13-11).

■ Coronado 3, Valley 0 -- Kuulei Piena had seven kills as the Cougars used a balanced attack to beat the Vikings, 25-10, 25-9, 25-19.

Kristen Herlosky had five kills and three aces to help Coronado, which held off a rally in the final game. Katie Gamsky added 16 assists and 10 digs.

Briana Johnson led Valley (12-11) with five kills.