Veteran Bengals pull out victory

Bonanza volleyball coach Erik Davis wanted to jump for joy Tuesday after his team's 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 15-11 win over defending state champion Shadow Ridge in the first round of the Sunset Region Tournament at Silverado.

But like so many of the Bengals, Davis couldn't jump.

Jeremy Anderson: broken ankle.

Scott Davis: sprained ankle.

Erik Davis: torn anterior cruciate ligament.

But that didn't make Bonanza's narrow victory any less sweet for Davis.

"I'm such an emotional guy; I wear my emotions on my sleeves, baby," Davis said. "Part of me just wanted to jump up and kill the guys half the time and hug them half the time. We didn't play particularly well, but when you win and don't play well, that's a sign of a good team."

When it mattered, though, the Bengals -- the ones still left, anyway -- certainly did enough.

Down 9-7 in the fifth set, Bonanza went on three separate mini-streaks to put away the Mustangs.

Davis credited the late-match heroics to experience -- particularly the knowledge of setter Jesse Mackay and outside hitter Dallin Hyer.

"That was our edge -- we had the experience," Davis said. "These guys have been playing together for four years now -- we have a lot of seniors -- and that helps them know how to play in those situations and stay calm."

After losing the first game and falling behind early in the second, Bonanza began to rely on the Mackay-Hyer connection.

Mackay, who had 51 assists, has just started to find his groove after a broken hand sidelined him for much of the division season. Hyer finished with a match-high 24 kills and has taken over Anderson's role as the Bengals' emotional leader and, more important says Davis, go-to-guy.

Now, Hyer is just trying to stay on the court as he hopes to keep Bonanza alive in the Sunset tournament, which continues at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Silverado.

"I'm walking around with lucky charms in my pocket," Hyer said. "Yeah, we've had some bad luck this season. But we have great depth on our team, great bench players. We've never given up; we've known we can do it.

"We know now."

For the Bengals to stay in the hunt for a Sunset Region title, they'll have to go through Northwest Division champion Centennial, which defeated Bishop Gorman 25-16, 25-18, 25-22 Tuesday.

Spencer Olsen led the Bulldogs with 10 kills, and Jeff Mecham added 28 assists. Jake Houser had 12 kills, 15 assists and seven digs to pace the Gaels, who battled miscommunication at times.

The Centennial-Bonanza winner will advance to face the winner of Palo Verde and Sierra Vista's Sunset Regional semifinal match Thursday.

The Panthers defeated Durango 25-17, 25-15, 25-27, 25-19 in the first round, with Tyler Capko (18 kills and eight aces) leading the way.

Sierra Vista, the Southwest Division's No. 1 seed, had the day's most dominant performance, a 25-22, 25-16, 25-15 victory over Arbor View. Zach Waldron had 35 assists, with Josh McLain (11 kills) and Marvi Sanchez (seven kills) primarily on the receiving end.