SUNRISE REGION: Coronado rallies from two-down to beat ‘unfamiliar’ Vikings

An unfamiliar opponent gave Coronado all it could handle on Tuesday in the first round of the Sunrise Region tournament.

But the Cougars battled back for a 17-25, 20-25, 25-10, 25-11, 15-10 road victory over Valley to advance to the semifinals.

“We came in kind of nervous,” Coronado coach Matt Johnson said. “We didn’t know anything about Valley.”

The Cougars quickly learned that the Vikings could be a tough opponent before righting the ship in the third game.

“They were really scrappy and had their home crowd behind them,” Johnson said. “We weathered the storm and were able to put it together in Games 3, 4 and 5.”

Kuulei Piena led Coronado with 19 kills and 13 digs. Kristen Herlosky added 12 kills, 16 digs and eight aces, and Katie Gamsky had 36 assists and 13 digs for Coronado (21-11), which plays Silverado in the semifinals Thursday at 5 p.m. at Silverado.

Maureen Aquino led Valley (13-4) with seven kills, 10 digs and three blocks. Lenore Porter added 16 assists, eight digs and three kills for the Vikings.

Green Valley 3, Rancho 0 — At Green Valley, Siga Appelgate had 19 kills to lead the Gators to a 25-11, 25-13, 25-15 home sweep of the Rams.

Jena Chavez added 20 assists for Green Valley (27-6), which plays Las Vegas at Silverado on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Aisha Momodu had four kills and Tiffany Smith five digs for Rancho (12-12).

Las Vegas 3, Basic 0 — At Las Vegas, Tiffany Jackson had 30 assists, and Natresha Bernard had 12 kills to lead the Wildcats to a 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 win over the Wolves.

Danica Pickett had nine kills and nine digs, and Breanna Melton had eight kills and 11 digs for Las Vegas (20-12).

Mikayla Bowen led Basic (10-15) with 10 kills and six digs.

Silverado 3, Eldorado 0 — At Silverado, the defending Sunrise Region champs rolled to a 25-10, 25-12, 25-14 win over the Sundevils (8-17).