SUNRISE REGION: Wildcats heed coach’s advance, fend off Wolves

First-round girls volleyball playoff matches don’t often offer a great deal of intense competition.

Nevertheless, Las Vegas coach Sue Thurman warned the top-seeded Wildcats not to underestimate No. 4 seed Basic.

Thurman’s advice came in handy for the Wildcats, who outlasted the Wolves in a battle from start to finish, 26-24, 25-13, 18-25, 25-23, in Tuesday’s Sunrise Region quarterfinals at Las Vegas High.

The victory lifted the Wildcats (19-6) into Thursday’s semifinal round, where they will play Green Valley at 2 p.m. Silverado and Coronado will play in the other semifinal at 5:20.

“When the playoffs start, it’s a whole new season,” said Thurman, whose squad was the only team from the Northeast League to advance. “In the playoffs, you can get butterflies and unexpected things can happen.”

The Wolves kept the score tight in the first set, and neither team ever led by more than three points. But the Wildcats rallied from a 24-21 deficit by scoring the set’s final five points.

Basic appeared lethargic in the second set, and Las Vegas took advantage. With her team clinging to a 14-11 lead, Desirae Lair served eight consecutive times, logging three aces, to turn the set into a laugher.

The Wolves came back to life in the third game, taking an early lead and cruising to cut their deficit to 2-1.

“With all the things we did right in that second game, we turned right around and didn’t make the same adjustments that had worked,” Thurman said.

Las Vegas pulled away midway through the fourth game and appeared to have control at 20-15. But Basic fought back one more time to tie the score at 20 on a Wildcats violation.

“We had a few unforced errors,” Thurman said. “But mistakes are going to happen. I just tried to keep the girls up.”

The score remained close until Loren Acluba’s long set attempt seemed to inadvertently sail over the net. It went untouched by the Wolves for the set-winning point.

Breanna Melton had 15 digs and 13 kills to lead Las Vegas. Teammate Tiffany Jackson registered 36 assists and eight digs, and Natresha Bernard added 12 kills.

Tara Patchett led Basic (17-16) with 11 kills, and teammate Jaclyn Foutz had seven kills.

Green Valley 3, Sunrise Mountain 0 — Carly Schiess and Nikki Drost had nine kills apiece to help the Gators (25-9) cruise past the Miners (14-10), 25-11, 25-12, 25-14.

Alexa Drost added six aces and three digs for Green Valley. Teammate Jenna Swaffer notched 24 assists and two aces.

Silverado 3, Eldorado 0 — Kayla Agae had 14 kills, eight digs and five aces to lead the Skyhawks (19-13) to a 25-10, 25-9, 25-12 win over the Sundevils (13-11).

Lauren Tegtmeier helped Silverado with eight kills and four aces, and teammate Marilyn Agae added 25 assists.

Eldorado’s Candace Watkins logged four kills.

Coronado 3, Valley 0 — Kuulei Piena had seven kills, and the Cougars (28-5) used a balanced attack to beat the Vikings, 25-10, 25-9, 25-19.

Kristen Herlosky had five kills and three aces to help Coronado, which held off a rally by Valley in the final game. Teammate Katie Gamsky had 16 assists and 10 digs, and Michell Lisowski added 11 digs.

Briana Johnson led the Vikings (12-11) with five kills.