SUNRISE VOLLEYBALL: Chow, Falcons show grit, tame Vikings

Chansten Chow dived for a ball late in the fourth set Thursday and crashed face-first into the bottom row of bleachers.

The Foothill senior didn’t mind one bit.

“You don’t need teeth to be in state, anyways,” Chow said.

Chow finished with 16 kills, six digs and four blocks, and the Falcons upended Northeast League champion Valley 25-20, 29-27, 21-25, 25-21 in a semifinal of the Sunrise Region boys volleyball tournament at Green Valley.

Foothill (30-10) will meet defending state champion Coronado (23-4), a 3-0 winner over Silverado, in the region final at 5 p.m. Friday at Green Valley. The teams split their two Southeast League matches during the regular season.

Both teams advance to the Division I state tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Chaparral.

“This is three years, and for some of us four years, in the making. It’s thousands of hours in the gym,” Chow said. “All credit to Valley. They shut me down a lot, but the fact we won is a testament to our hard work.”

Foothill never trailed in the first set and benefited from a key no-call late in the second set. The Falcons appeared to be guilty of a net violation as Lorenzo Capannolo went up for a kill that would have put Valley (27-8) on top, 24-21. Instead, Kendell Andrews put away one of his 15 kills and Foothill survived two more set points before Chow’s ace gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead.

“It was a crucial game in the match. It gave Foothill a big advantage,” Vikings coach Matt Porter said. “But one call doesn’t win or lose a game. We’re concerned with things we can control. That’s our focus.”

Sean Carter’s solo block on Chow sparked the Vikings late in the third set, and Jack Heavey started to heat up after being held in check by Foothill early on.
But the Falcons went ahead 23-21 in the final set when Austin Krause’s serve hit the top of the net and fell in. After an Andrews kill, he combined with Caleb Hutchinson to stuff Heavey on match point.

“I knew taking over the program last year it would be a lot of hard work, but I had complete faith in the boys, and it’s been all them,” Foothill coach Chris Sisson said. “You can see the passion, joy and desire they have for the game.”

Heavey led the Vikings with 16 kills, and Matt Ballaro added 14 kills. Sean Carter dished out 34 assists for Valley.

“They fought as hard as they could, and that’s an indication of the heart this team has,” Porter said. “We’ll learn from it and come back next year even stronger and better.”

Coronado 3, Silverado 0 — The Cougars set the tone by scoring the first five points of the match and rolled to a 25-20, 25-21, 25-12 victory over the Skyhawks (13-7) in a rematch of last season’s Class 4A state final.

Tyler Cucullu had 14 kills and 12 digs, Max Osmundson and Matt Pettit added 13 kills and Connor Stephenson finished with 43 assists for Coronado, which lost in the region final to the Skyhawks in 2012.

“Last year we were so excited winning in the semifinal we looked past the region final match,” Cougars coach Matt Johnson said. “It’s almost incomplete when you win state and bypass region, so we can’t look past Foothill.”

Silverado’s Curtis Hadland was limited to 11 kills as the Cougars focused their attention on the standout hitter. Teammate Austin Hunt added seven kills, and Bryan Skworzec chipped in with 20 assists.

“When it comes down to crunch time you’ve got to show up with your best or you’re going home,” Skyhawks coach Kevin Schwallie said. “The kids learned it’s not easy to get back (to the final). It’s not easy to stay on top.

“I’m proud of my guys. There was nobody out there not trying their hardest.”