Mustangs stay unbeaten in Northwest play

Centennial’s boys volleyball team did a pretty good job early on shutting down Shadow Ridge’s dominant hitters, Taylor Lancaster and Jake Shea.

Lucky for the Mustangs, seniors Zach Hafen and Joe Pearson also came to play.

Pearson notched a team-high 12 kills and Hafen added 11 kills and 11 digs as Shadow Ridge remained undefeated in the Northwest League with a 25-15, 28-26, 22-25, 25-21 win over the host Bulldogs on Tuesday.

“I’m not considered one of the best players, so if the other guys get down, I try to be a leader, like (I am) in basketball,” the 6-foot-3-inch Hafen said. “It just kind of leads over to this, I guess. I just try to help out with as much as I can. Jeremy (Makaiwi), Jake, Taylor, Joe ... those are our main guys. I just do the best I can to fill in empty spaces.”

The match was considered by many to be a battle for the league title, and both teams treated it like a rivalry.

“The Shadow Ridge-Centennial games are always close games,” Mustangs coach Christian Augustin said. “It’s a rivalry. It’s been that way for five or six years now — it’s always a close game.”

Hafen led a balanced Shadow Ridge attack with four kills in the first game, when the Mustangs (14-1, 11-0 Northwest League) went on a 9-1 run to grab the early lead.

Centennial (12-3, 9-2) seemed to be on the verge of a second-game comeback, leading 24-23 late. But the Mustangs rallied with two kills from Hafen, a blasting spike from Shea and a game-winning block by Pearson to seize the upper hand.

“Zach’s an athlete. He’s been a great addition to our program this year,” Augustin said. “They did an excellent job of shutting down our outsides, and we had to really utilize our right side. Zach stepped up.”

The Bulldogs stole the third game with a few crushing spikes from middle blocker Tyler Rogers, who finished with 12 kills and three blocks, and Ryan Ramin, who had 11 kills.

But Hafen rallied his team in the fourth game, even notching the 24th point on a perfect pass from Jeremy Makaiwi, who distributed 47 assists.

“Everyone was down toward the last game, and I told them, 'Come on, we know how to come back and win.’ I tried to get everyone up,” Hafen said. “You can’t win when you’re down.”

Shea had 11 kills and 19 digs for the Mustangs, and Lancaster added nine kills and 14 digs.

Leo Durkin dished out 50 assists for Centennial, and McKay Holley added 10 kills.