High hopes quickly turned to hanging heads as visiting No. 11 Salpointe Catholic knocked off No. 6 Mountain View 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-23) to advance in the Division II state tournament.
Winners of 10 of their last 11, the Lancers (14-4) avenged an early-season, five-set loss to the Mountain Lions (16-2), who had won 13 straight heading into the postseason.
“We hadn’t had enough time together yet,” said Salpointe coach Heather Moore-Martin. “I definitely feel like we’re doing the things that we talked about at the beginning of the season and now they’re finally coming to fruition with some hard work in practice and determination to get better."
Back in the postseason for the first time since 2011, and hosting for the first time, the season as a whole still has to be considered a win for Mountain View under first-year head coach Lindsey Spivey.
Up next for Salpointe is a trip to play at No. 3 Glendale Ironwood (15-2) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for a trip to the semifinals.
The Lancers were the last team from Southern Arizona to make the round of four, back in 2013. That also happens to be the last time Salpointe appeared in the postseason.
The Lancers shook off a quick start by Mountain View to control the majority of the first two sets.
A 9-3 run in the second gave the Mountain Lions life at 21-18, but they were unable to claw their way back to even by set’s end.
It was more of the same in the third until Mountain View made a move late to tie it at 17-17, and eventually taking a short-lived 20-17 lead before Salpointe closed the match with a 8-3 run.
“They wanted to try and push us further on their home court,” said Moore-Martin. “I thought our team did a good job handling the pressure of that moment.”
Pacing the Lancers offensively was junior Luke Wallace with 14 kills.
“His leadership is just really important to us,” said Moore-Martin. “He does a good job of telling us to pick our ‘stuff’ up when we need to and he does a good job of saying great job when we do.”
Junior Jackson Breshears and sophomore John Dunn tied for second in putaways with seven apiece.
Defensively the team finished with double-digit blocks, including six by Jackson Baker.
Fellow juniors Parker Miron and Ian Hanus finished with four each, while Wallace had three. Baker also finished with 40 assists.
-Jason Harris
Second-seeded Cienega rolls past CDO in first round
Height doesn’t always prevail, but it did for Cienega's bo’s volleyball team on Saturday, as the second-seeded Bobcats cruised to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-22) win against No. 15 Canyon Del Oro in the first round of the Division II state tournament.
The Bobcats (26-10) advanced to the second round of the 16-team tournament behind its trio of players who stand at 6-foot-5 or taller. Cienega hosts No. 10 Peoria Centennial on Tuesday.
Senior outside hitter Isaiah Murphy, who stands at 6-foot-5, finished with 10 blocks and junior middle blocker Skyler Cavanaugh, listed at 6-foot-6, ended up with seven blocks.
After the match, Cienega coach Heather Mott said she’ll take the victory but wants her team to put together a complete performance.
“We came into today saying we’re going to play one ball at a time and we did that in the first two sets, and it showed,” Mott said. “I don’t know if we lost our focus or maybe tasted the win a little too soon, but I was a little disappointed in the last bit of the third set.”
As Mott alluded to, after two dominant sets, CDO battled back to make the third set competitive. The Dorados took their first lead in any set at 4-3 in the third set and clawed within 24-22 before Cienega put away the match on a kill from Cavanaugh.
-Roberto Payne
POSTSEASON GLANCE
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
DIVISION II STATE TOURNAMENT
Saturday’s first-round results
No. 2 Cienega 3, No. 15 Canyon del Oro 0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-22)
No. 11 Salpointe Catholic 3, No. 6 Mountain View 0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-23)
No. 10 Peoria Centennial 3, No. 7 Sahuaro 2 (27-25, 16-25, 27-25, 26-28, 16-14)
No. 5 Gilbert Mesquite 3, No. 12 Ironwood Ridge 2 (22-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-14, 15-10)
No. 3 Glendale Ironwood 3, No. 14 Rincon/University 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-13)
Second round – Tuesday, all matches at 6:30 p.m.
No. 10 Peoria Centennial at No. 2 Cienega
No. 11 Salpointe Catholic at No. 3 Glendale Ironwood
