4A STATE: Jarman’s kill nullifies ‘Bonanza curse’
Price Jarman had pictured winning a boys volleyball state title so often, it nearly made him nauseous.
When the moment finally came, the Bonanza senior stopped thinking and fell to the floor.
Jarman had 13 kills — including the match winner — to help the Bengals rally for a 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23 win over Coronado on Wednesday in the Class 4A state final at Las Vegas High.
“I’ve pictured it a million times leading up to today, and I almost threw up 10 times thinking about this game,” said Jarman, who also had 22 digs and six blocks. “But when it went down, I just collapsed.
“This is the best day of my life.”
Jarman’s kill in the fourth set gave Bonanza a 23-0 season and its first boys volleyball championship.
“A lot of guys on this team had older brothers ... who played in state title matches and lost. There’s always been this rumor of a 'Bonanza curse,’ ” Jarman said. “But I think we put it to rest tonight.”
Jared Hyer added nine kills and 10 digs for the Bengals, including what appeared to be the match winner before it was determined to have slipped inches outside the net’s antenna.
“At the end, when they started to rally and we couldn’t side out, I told Craig (Whiting) he had two choices: Price was go-to, and if he’s not feeling it, Hyer’s got to be the outlet,” Bonanza coach Joe Cap said. “We knew he was going to run either one of them, and they came through.
“Having those two in the front row at the end of a game is a little bit less nerve-racking.”
Whiting dished out 34 assists and Kenny DeSoto supplied 17 digs for Bonanza, which rallied after Chris Andrulis tallied eight kills in the first set to help Coronado (19-4) take the early advantage.
“We knew what we were up against, and we knew if we played our best, we’d win,” Whiting said. “That’s what we did.”
Andrulis, who has signed with UC San Diego, racked up 28 kills, 15 digs and two aces for Coronado, and Jahren Makanoa added 12 kills, 16 digs and two aces.
But the Cougars hurt themselves by committing 12 service errors and 27 hitting errors. Bonanza had only five service errors and 16 hitting errors.
Coronado’s Byrin Romney had 45 assists, and Brandon Dau had 40 digs.
“(The Cougars) are a strong, talented team,” Cap said. “At times, it could’ve gone either way. It was definitely a fun game, and a great way to end the season.”
