Setter Jaden Bramhall leads Cienega into Saturday’s Class 5A state championship match.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

All season long, Cienega has played like the best boys volleyball team in Class 5A.

Saturday, the Bobcats can remove any doubt.

Top-seeded Cienega will take on No. 3 Gilbert in the 5A state championship match, played at Mesa Skyline High School at 4 p.m. Cienega punched its ticket to the title match by beating Peoria Sunrise Mountain 3-0 (25-20, 25-21 25-10) in Thursday’s semifinals.

The Bobcats (33-4) are searching for their first state championship since 2017. Coach Heather Mott’s club is led by Derrick Vargas, a 6-foot-5-inch senior who leads the club with 272 kills; his 3.0 kills per set are also tops on the team. Fellow senior Taylor Allen has 248 kills and 2.6 kills per set. Setter Jaden Bramhall leads the Bobcats in both assists (674) and blocks (63).

Cienega’s Taylor Allen hits the ball over the net during the second set of the Bobcats’ Class 5A state quarterfinal win over Catalina Foothills.

Saturday’s final is a rematch of last year’s 5A state semifinals, a match that Cienega won 25-15, 25-20, 25-14. The second-seeded Bobcats then fell to top-seeded Queen Creek Casteel in straight sets in the final.

Southern Arizona track and field athletes will take part in the Divisions I, II, III and IV finals on Saturday, but the day will otherwise be a relatively slow one for local teams. The scheduled 4A state championship softball game between Salpointe Catholic and Canyon del Oro was moved to Monday night and relocated to Hillenbrand Stadium when the two Tucson-area teams advanced to the final. (The Arizona Wildcats are occupying the stadium Saturday, with a noon game scheduled against Stanford). First pitch for the 4A state title game is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The Lancers and Dorados will square also off in the 4A state baseball final at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The game was moved to Hi Corbett Field for the same reasons.

And on Tuesday, top-seeded Nogales will take on No. 3 Buckeye Verrado in the 5A state baseball championship game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. First pitch is 4 p.m. The Apaches held off No. 9 Scottsdale Desert Mountain 9-3 in Thursday’s 5A elimination game, one night after the ninth-seeded Wolves pulled off an upset, forcing a winner-take-all semifinal game.

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