SUNSET REGION: Gaels survive first five-game match of season, down Centennial

Bishop Gorman’s girls volleyball team hadn’t played a five-game match all season.

So when the Gaels were pushed to a decisive fifth game in a Class 4A Sunset Region semifinal Thursday, Gorman coach Ed Van Meetren wasn’t sure how his team would finish a close match.

He has no doubts left.

Gorman finished strong on the way to a 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-11 win over Centennial at Durango to reach the Sunset final for the second year in a row.

“I was as proud of that as anything else because I didn’t know how we were going to respond,” Van Meetren said. “We showed a lot of character by finishing that fifth game.”

Southwest League champion Gorman (25-3) will meet Northwest champion Palo Verde (31-6) for the Sunset title and a ticket to the state tournament at 7 p.m. today at Silverado.

The Gaels surged to a 14-9 lead in the fifth game, which ended on a kill by Shelby Devlin (six blocks, four kills).

Liz Manthei and Kylie Shaw had 15 kills apiece to lead Gorman. Kylee Chun dished out 48 assists, and Larissa Silcox added five kills.

The Gaels, who are gunning for their first state title, lost 3-2 to Durango in last year’s region final.

“We felt the same way last year,” Shaw said. “We need to take the momentum into the final because we’re not done yet.”

Morgan Vieira led Centennial (24-10) with 21 assists, 18 digs, seven blocks, five kills and three aces. Alli Tatom had 13 kills and eight blocks, Naramin Holloway supplied 10 blocks and five kills, and Tiffany Chapman added 15 digs.

“Tonight we were struggling in serve-receive,” Centennial coach Shannon Alia said. “That’s normally one of our strong suits.

“My team’s young. At any given time, I have three to four sophomores on the court. Come playoff time, it’s a different kind of pressure.”

Palo Verde 3, Sierra Vista 2 — Jovana Sisovic had 27 kills, 16 digs and three blocks to help the Panthers hold on for a 25-20, 25-14, 11-25, 19-25, 15-6 win.

Tori Lounsbery had 37 assists, five blocks, five digs and three kills for Palo Verde, which jumped to an 11-4 lead in the fifth game. Ainsley Lovejoy contributed 12 digs, nine kills and four aces.

“The past five years, it’s been tough because we’ve always struggled in the semifinals,” Panthers coach Greg Siqueiros said. “This is our breakthrough match.

“Our girls did a great job coming back in the fifth game, re-composing themselves and having a lot of pride in that last game to finish.”

Brooke Robinson led Sierra Vista (20-6) with 24 kills. Johnie Pride had 10 kills and four blocks, while Morgan Malone added 40 assists and Kayla Forte 21 digs.