SUNSET REGION: Barnes lifts Bulldogs past Panthers, into final

With her team facing elimination at match point Thursday, Centennial captain Talia Barnes knew it was time to step up her game.

The senior middle blocker helped the Bulldogs complete an unlikely fourth-set rally before leading them through the decisive fifth set on the way to an 18-25, 25-14, 17-25, 26-24, 15-5 victory over Palo Verde in semifinals of the Sunset Region tournament at Green Valley.

Centennial (19-14) will face Bishop Gorman (23-9) in the championship game at 8 p.m. today.

“I never thought anything was over,” said Barnes, whose team trailed 24-21 in the fourth set before battling back. “I believe a game is never over until it’s over. You can still win.”

After Centennial cut the deficit to 24-23, Barnes came up with a momentum-swinging block that not only tied the score but set the tone for the final set. A well-placed kill by teammate Kristi Farley moments later bounced off the hands of two defenders before falling to the court to tie the match at two sets each.

Barnes took over early in the tiebreaking set, logging two key blocks and a big kill to give the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead. An 11-4 scoring run followed to seal the win.

“I am the captain, so I felt I had to do well for the team to start doing well,” said Barnes, who finished with eight kills and five blocks. “When I had that block, I just knew we could do it.”

Centennial coach Scott Nelson said the rally came at the perfect time.

“That’s our most significant win of the year,” said Nelson, whose team was beaten 3-0 in the only regular-season match between the teams. “Clearly, Palo Verde earned the top seed. For us to win it is a big upset.”

The Bulldogs seemed outmatched in the first set after the Panthers (22-9) rallied from an early deficit to complete the win with an 11-4 scoring spurt.

“The whole match was in short spurts,” said Nelson, whose team took control of the second set early.

“I knew it was going to come down to whoever got the last spurt. We happened to get one late in game 4, and it carried into game 5.”

Palo Verde regained composure and pulled away midway through the third set to take a 2-1 lead by scoring five of the final six points.

The Panthers rallied from an early deficit in the fourth, grabbing the 24-21 lead before Cristina Owens earned Centennial a side-out at 24-22. That’s when the Bulldogs got a break.

“I had my best server serving,” said Nelson, who was relieved to see junior Nani Padilla with the ball. “If I’m going to have anyone serving there, I want it to be Nani.”

Padilla served Centennial’s final four points of the set, and the Bulldogs never trailed again.

Raquari Gilliam helped the Bulldogs with nine kills. Padilla had 11 digs, and Farley added 27 assists, three kills and three aces.

Kendall Cheval led the Panthers with 16 kills and two aces, and teammate McCall Phillips added 13 kills.

Bishop Gorman 3, Shadow Ridge 0 — Emma Filosi had 28 assists, and Gianna Ruggeroli had seven kills to lead the Gaels to a 25-17, 25-21, 25-18 sweep over the Mustangs.

Alex Ruggero added 20 digs for Gorman, which rallied for seven consecutive points to win the final set.

Jasmine Burton led Shadow Ridge with 24 digs, and teammate Ashley Smith had eight kills.