SUNSET REGION: Robinson, Sierra Vista advance to semifinals
As a senior team leader, Brooke Robinson knows its her job to help pilot Sierra Vista’s girls volleyball team.
The Mountain Lions outside hitter did just that Tuesday in a 25-16, 24-26, 25-13, 25-19 victory over Shadow Ridge in the Sunset Region quarterfinals at Legacy.
“It’s my senior year and I’m ready to go,” said Robinson, who had 23 kills, 10 blocks and three aces. “But it’s just one game at a time. This was just one of the speed bumps on our way.”
Sierra Vista (23-3) breezed to a first-set win behind the strong play of setter Morgan Malone, who finished with 41 assists, four aces and two kills.
But the Mustangs (17-16) took the second set on clutch spikes by Destinee Beavers, who finished with 11 kills, and Niehely Sosa, who added 10 kills.
After that set, Robinson reminded her team about the importance of playing together.
“We just looked at each other and said, 'teamwork,’ ” Robinson said. “We can do this; we knew we can. We just have to stay mentally strong. We’ve practiced for this, so we needed to go out there, have fun, mentally dominate and light them up.”
The pep talk worked. The Mountain Lions started the third set on a 15-5 run, and Shadow Ridge failed to find a consistent hitting streak.
“You could see that we were jittery in the playoff format,” Sierra Vista coach Camille McComas said. “We played tight. I think we settled down a bit, but it took a match of being here and getting that experience.”
Vanna Wilkes added 12 blocks, eight kills and two aces and had 12 digs for the Mountain Lions.
Shadow Ridge’s Rachel Childers had 31 assists.
Sierra Vista plays Centennial in the semifinals at 3:40 p.m. Thursday at Las Vegas High.
Faith Lutheran 3, Bonanza 0 — Taylor Hammer had 12 kills, three blocks and two aces and Kelsey McCourt added 31 assists as the Crusaders (23-10) defeated the Bengals (15-10), 25-22, 25-22, 25-20.
Taylor Richards added nine kills and Chelsea Kronschnabel had 10 digs for Faith Lutheran.
The Crusaders will face Bishop Gorman in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Las Vegas.
Bree Hammel paced Bonanza with 18 kills and two blocks, and Lauren Karn dished out 27 assists.
Bishop Gorman 3, Arbor View 0 — Liz Manthei had 10 assists, 10 kills and three aces, leading the Gaels (29-8) to a 25-6, 28-26, 25-15 victory over the Aggies (19-12).
Kylee Chun added 16 assists and three aces for Gorman, and Shelby Devlin supplied six kills and seven blocks.
Arbor View’s Lorin Rader had 12 assists, and Micaila McErlean added five kills.
Centennial 3, Pahrump Valley 0 — Allison Tatom had 13 kills and 10 blocks to lead the Bulldogs (28-7) past the Trojans (19-15), 25-19, 25-14, 26-24.
Centennial’s Lacy Miyahira added 24 assists, 11 digs and five aces. Ashley Hill had 18 digs and five aces for the Bulldogs.
Alyson Kunzi led Pahrump with six assists, two kills and two blocks. Taylor McJunkin added six kills, and Megan Hamrick posted three blocks for the Trojans.
