LAS VEGAS HIGH NIAA SUNRISE REGIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!

Las Vegas 3 Coronado 0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-23)

The Las Vegas Wildcats came out on Friday night ready to pounce as they roared to an early 10-4 lead and widened that gap by the time they finished the first set at 25-15.  This lightening fast start caught Coronado on their heels a bit and it was the first set they had dropped since early April.  Tyler Wilson, Braeden Wilson and Chris Gbelay each recorded three kills in the set but the real key was that the team only had two unforced hitting errors.  The Cougars saw some nice offense from Chris Andrulis and Jahren Makanoa who each registered 3 kills but the team had a few uncharacteristic hitting errors.

Game 2 was very competitive and probably some of the best volleyball I have seen in the playoffs.  Both teams were playing steady and aggressive with the real key to scoring was consistent ball control.  The Wildcats got out to a 12-7 lead before Cougars Coach Matt Johnson called a timeout and his team responded tying the score at 16 highlighted by back to back stuff blocks by senior middle blocker Bryan Glenn.  From here the competition level really rose and the intensity level sky rocketed.   Las Vegas closed out the very tight second game 25-23 just as Coronado seemed to taking control of the momentum behind the left handed hammer of Chris Andrulis and clutch setting of Hunter Chaney.  The Wildcat stars Braeden Wilson and Trevor Hardy played exceptionally well ledgering 5 kills apiece.

Game three was another action packed set.  Once again Las Vegas High School jumped out to a 14-10 lead before Coronado narrowed the gap to 16-15 and the set stayed very tight from here to the end.  Senior middle blocker Jordan Osmundson really stepped up in game three with some huge blocks and 3 kills, while Chris Andrulis scored on 5 of his own kills.  However, this set belonged to the region MVP Braeden Wilson who hammered out a jaw dropping 8 kills and some vicious jump serving.

Both teams should hold their head high after this match as they really impressed this former coach.  The level of play was very high and so many points were determined by quality competition rather than errors.  I am very excited to see all of these teams play next Tuesday at the state semi-finals.  Come on out to Palo Verde and support this event!