SUNRISE REGION: Rancho sweeps Del Sol, ends postseason drought in boys volleyball

With 10 seniors on the roster, Rancho’s boys volleyball team wanted to prolong its season.

The Rams did that Tuesday, breaking a 10-year postseason winless streak in the process with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of Del Sol in the first round of the Sunrise Region boys volleyball tournament at Las Vegas High.

“It feels really good — we’ve worked really hard, especially since last year (a 3-2 loss to Basic in the first round),” said middle blocker

David Silva, who had six clutch kills and two blocks for the Rams. “Ever since then, we’ve been focused on getting far in the playoffs.”

The Dragons (12-7) looked to come back in the third game, but a timely kill by Kevin Plascencia and a thumping spike by Silva tied the score at 11-11, and the Rams (14-4) never looked back.

“We just play with great composure,” Silva said. “I don’t think we let any team rattle us. If we start playing bad, we just talk, and say 'Let’s get going; this is easy.’”

Antonio Boucher had 12 kills for the Rams, and Kamran Baig distributed 27 assists. Plascencia finished with 10 kills, 11 digs and two aces.

“I love it,” Boucher said of breaking his team’s playoff drought. “My team came through big time. These guys were the difference.”

Rancho will face Coronado (19-0) on Thursday at Palo Verde. The Cougars stayed undefeated with a 3-0 sweep of Desert Pines.

“I’m excited. I love challenges,” Silva said. “We all get up for (big) games; we get excited, get hyped. We love those big moments.”

Nick Maglaras had 18 assists for Del Sol, and Kevin Fitzpatrick added seven kills and four blocks. Eric Beil also had six kills and two aces for the Dragons.

Silverado 3, Valley 0 — The Skyhawks grounded the Vikings 25-12, 25-11, 25-11 to advance to the second round.

Casey Hadland had 26 assists, three kills and four aces for Silverado (16-3), and Tyree Burton added four kills and five blocks.

Brian Theophil tallied six of his eight kills in the first game for the Skyhawks, including the 24th point that bent to within inches of the back line.

Carl Ajuziem dished out 10 assists for the Vikings (10-8), and Julio Fierro had six kills.

Coronado 3, Desert Pines 0 — Chris Andrulis had 10 kills, five blocks and two aces to lead the Cougars to a 25-8, 25-10, 25-12 rout of the Jaguars.

Bryan Arana added seven kills for Coronado (19-0), Hunter Chaney distributed 25 assists and two aces, and Jordan Osmundson posted six blocks.

Michael Tran had nine assists for the Jaguars (10-8), and Dominique Lawrence added six kills and a block.

Daniel Aguilar also had 29 digs and an ace for Desert Pines.

Las Vegas 3, Basic 0 — Luke Hansen tallied 35 assists, five kills, two blocks and an ace to lead the Wildcats past the Wolves, 25-17, 25-17, 25-16.

Braeden Wilson posted 15 kills for Las Vegas (17-2), including a dramatic spike to cap a five-point run in the second game that put the Wildcats up 15-10 after a kill and a block by Basic’s Joseph Thomas tied the game twice.

Trevor Hardy added 12 kills and Chris Gbelay five kills for the Wildcats.

Thomas finished with six kills and two blocks for the Wolves (10-9). Stephen Udall dished out 20 assists, and Jordan Pils struck down 10 kills.

Mark Bowman added five kills and three blocks, and Tanner Humphreys added four blocks for Basic.