Silverado nets final state tourney berth

Three days later than most expected, Silverado's girls volleyball team advanced to the Class 4A state tournament.

Shrugging off a slow start, the Skyhawks swept Palo Verde 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 in Monday night's play-in match, earning the South's final berth to state. Both the Skyhawks and Panthers lost in Friday night's region title matches.

Silverado earned the second seed and a Friday semifinal date with Sunset Region champion Bishop Gorman. The other semifinal will match Sunrise Region champion Green Valley against Northern champion Reno. The matches will be at Silverado.

The Skyhawks, who went undefeated in Southeast League play, dropped a five-game heartbreaker to Green Valley in the Sunrise title match. Silverado looked like a team still shocked early on against the Panthers, falling behind 15-10 before coming alive to win the final eight points of the first game.

"Honestly, I think we were a little bit out of sorts today," Silverado coach Jenn Boeddeker said.

Taylor Richard helped set the Skyhawks right with a high-energy performance. Visibly upset during Friday's loss to Green Valley, Silverado's senior leader swung with authority and played strong defense against Palo Verde, finishing with 16 kills and 10 digs.