Unbeaten Coronado absorbs flurry, hands Shadow Ridge first loss

Fortunately for the Cougars, they added another first to their list, rallying for a 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 victory over the previously unbeaten Mustangs on Thursday to push their spotless record to 6-0.

“We had some issues in Game 1, probably a little bit of nerves,” Coronado coach Matt Johnson said. “The guys were jacked up. Sometimes when you’re jacked up, you try too hard, and when you try too hard, you get things that just aren’t normal.

“They’ve been looking forward to this match for a while. I think they had it circled, starred and asterisked on their calendars. But this is still only March 25.”

Shadow Ridge (5-1) was unable to gain momentum from its quick victory in the first game. The Mustangs rushed to a 9-3 lead and coasted behind Jake Shea’s eight kills and Jeremy Makaiwi’s seven assists. Shea finished with 21 kills, while Makaiwi supplied 53 assists and 18 digs.

“We came out flat. We expected Shadow to play well, and they did,” said Coronado outside hitter Bryan Arana, who had 19 kills and six digs. “After the loss in the first game, we came out pumped and ready for the second game.”

The Cougars still had to pull away from a 7-all tie in the second game. Arana and setter Hunter Chaney (52 assists, eight digs) led them through 15 ties and eight lead changes to win the second and third games.

“Putting away top teams like Shadow and Vegas — it’s just another thing on the list,” Arana said. “We just need to keep level-headed. We can’t underestimate teams.”

Arana closed out the match with a dramatic leaping spike.

“I drew the team into a huddle, and said, ‘We’re putting this ball away,’ ” he said. “Our setter Hunter Chaney put his faith in me.”

Chris Andrulis added 14 kills and five digs for Coronado, and Bryan Glenn had 12 kills.

Shadow Ridge opposite hitter Zach Hagen posted 13 kills and Joe Pearson had 10.