SUNSET VOLLEYBALL: Palo Verde finds footing, roars to victory over Sierra Vista

Palo Verde coach Phil Clarke casually strolled by the scorer’s table Tuesday night, his Panthers trailing 2-0 in the first round of the Sunset Region girls volleyball tournament at Bishop Gorman, smiled and said, “Hopefully Palo Verde volleyball will show up now.”

It did.

Led by freshman Arien Fafard, the Northwest League’s second-seeded Panthers (21-15) stormed back after dropping the first two sets to knock off Sierra Vista, 18-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-18, 15-7.

“We worked really hard for this. … I knew we were going to come back,” said Fafard, who finished with 18 kills, 18 assists and five aces. “I don’t doubt my team, I love my team, I believe in my team, and I believe we can do great things. When we work together, we can do great things.”

The Panthers got valiant efforts from several players, but it was Fafard at crucial moments that kept them alive the entire match.

Like in the third set, when the 5-foot-6-inch setter sparked an 11-6 run with a blistering shot down the sideline to give the Panthers a commanding 23-14 lead. Or in the fourth set, when Fafard assisted on several key points during a 7-2 run that gave Palo Verde a 22-13 lead.

“They came out and played harder than we did, we were getting outworked by Sierra Vista,” Clarke said. “Most people lean on seniors during playoff time, but Arien decided it was her time. She’s the one that wanted to step up. She does not play like a freshman with her volleyball IQ. Nothing really flashy, but she just made really smart plays when we needed it, like in the fifth set with her serving.”

The Mountain Lions (24-11) opened a 4-1 lead in the final set, and were clinging to a 5-4 edge when Fafard took over, serving the Panthers to six straight points to give them a 10-5 lead. After her next serve went long, Sierra Vista’s Shantalle Demirjian hit one long to give Palo Verde the serve back, and this time it was Carli Tanner, who served four straight points to put the match out of reach.

Tanner finished with nine kills, Aaliah Largusa had six kills and 16 digs, Mia Sadler had 18 assists and eight digs and Makaya Truman finished with 15 digs for Palo Verde.

Demirjian led the Mountain Lions with 19 digs and 13 kills. Lexy Nassiri added 22 digs, and teammate Faith Gray-Williams had 33 assists and 12 digs for Sierra Vista.

Bishop Gorman 3, Centennial 0 — At Gorman, the Southwest’s top-seeded Gaels eliminated Centennial, 25-13, 25-17, 25-18.

Sydney Lobato had 17 assists, nine digs and five aces to lead Gorman (25-10). Abbey Archambault added six kills and five blocks, Aly Nielson had 24 digs and Tommi Stockham powered 19 kills for the Gaels.

Talie Bonds had nine digs, seven kills, seven assists and three aces to lead Centennial (15-18). Kaysha Clark had eight digs, Siara Roberts had 11 assists and six digs and Natalie Starlin finished with 11 digs and six kills for the Bulldogs.

Durango 3, Faith Lutheran 1 — At Shadow Ridge, Kaci Kedrowski had 12 kills and 21 digs to lead the Trailblazers to a 25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23 win over Crusaders in a Sunset quarterfinal.

Hailey Kraft added 11 kills and 17 digs, Anuhea Faitau had three aces and 16 digs, and Makenzi Abelman dished out 31 assists for Durango (21-17), which hosts Shadow Ridge (26-6) in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Sydney Washington had 12 kills to lead the Crusaders (20-18).

Tayah Washington added 10 kills and 10 digs, and Logan Van Reken had five aces and 22 digs for Faith Lutheran.

Shadow Ridge 3, Bonanza 0 — At Shadow Ridge, Whittnee Nihipali had eight kills, two aces, two blocks and nine digs to lead the Mustangs to a sweep of the Bengals, 25-16, 25-8, 25-17.

Rachel Chambers added seven kills and two blocks for the Mustangs, who advanced to the Sunset League semifinals.

Kizzy Rodriguez had seven kills and 16 digs, Braedyn Peters had four aces and 14 digs, and Autumn Spendlove dished out 29 assists for the Mustangs.

Taryn Warner and Zhanna Colin each had five kills to lead Bonanza.

Sydney Dunn added 13 assists, and Chianna Rodriguez had 14 digs for Bengals (17-16).