NIAA Boys state championships Recap- Jason Smith

There was a great afternoon of volleyball at Las Vegas High School on Tuesday as the NIAA Boys state championships got kicked off.  Although, all the matches ended in sweeps there was plenty of action to enjoy.  It all continues on Thursday at Palo Verde High School and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys volleyball.

Rancho 3 Del Sol 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18)

This was a fairly competitive match from beginning to end.  Rancho started strong but Del Sol fought back to tie the score using their middle blockers well in transition.  The Rams then took the lead for good at 19-12 behind the serving of Kyle Stankosky and some strong net play from Adam Johnson.  Rancho began game 2 where they left off in game one and never relinquished the lead.  Outside hitters Antonio Boucher and Kevin Plascencia both had some monster kills but more importantly balanced the team with steady ball control and strong serving.  Del Sol started quickly in game three as Eric Beil got on track and raised his game a level.  Rancho battled back to tie the game at 11 and take the lead at 21-13 on the lightning fast attacks of MB David Silva.  Silva was the fastest middle in the gym and does a great job of maintaining spacing with his setter.  Rancho finished the match at 25-18 and could do some damage on Thursday if their outsides continue to set the pace and tempo of the match and finish points from the pin.  Del Sol should like the looks of next year’s squad returning the all around solid outside hitter Eric Beil, the crafty setting of Nick Maglaras and extremely athletic middles Aaron Rife and James Johnson.

Silverado 3 Valley 0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-11)

Silverado won this match fairly easily methodically choking Valley with some very aggressive serving and blocking.  The team is led by Casey Hadland who is very smooth and continually puts his hitters in some great positions to score.  The balanced attack and sound ball control slowly exerted pressure on Valley like a boa constrictor which eventually led to a great deal of errors from the Vikings.  I was very impressed with the energy and defensive play of Rusty Santiago who erased quite a few nice spikes from the Valley hitters.  Junior OH Brian Theophil was notable in this match with his passing and clutch serving.  This will be a difficult team to beat on Thursday.  They are well coached and solid in all of the volleyball fundamentals.

Coronado 3 Desert Pines 0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-12)

Coronado is the most complete team that I have seen this season.  Tuesday they coasted past Desert Pines with great setting, devastating and highlight kills.  It was evident that Desert Pines was rattled early as the Cougars raced out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back.  Dominique Lawrence played well at times for Desert Pines but overall they were outmatched by the size of Coronado.  The Cougars were paced by junior opposite Chris Andrulis who tallied 10 kills and 5 blocks.  Senior outside hitter Bryan Arana bounced 7 kills and really shines in every aspect of his game.  He has a huge vertical but the beauty of his performance is hidden in his passing and serving.  Hunter Chaney sets for and leads Coronado with a low key approach to making his hitter look great.  He makes great decisions and dishes some great sets to an all around offense.  This group is probably the favorite going into Thursday and is very exciting to watch.

Las Vegas 3 Basic 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16)

The final match of the day was a spirited match with plenty of emotion going back forth across the net.  Physically the Basic team was a little overmatched but continued to fight and scrap throughout the evening forcing Vegas to earn every point.  The fighters heart of the Wolves is truly exemplified by the gritty and exciting play of senior libero Jarin Sillitoe.  If we put some floor cleaner on his chest the court would be spotless at the end of the night as he dives over and over again to record highlight digs and provide energy for his team.  Vegas was paced throughout the night by nice performances from outside hitters Braeden Wilson and Trevor Hardy.  Both of these hitters play high over the net and deliver some massive kills and really look to be having a great time doing it.  The entire team plays a smart brand of volleyball and exploited some holes in the Basic defense.  Luke Hansen did an outstanding job of getting the ball to the hot hitters throughout the match which kept the Basic blockers on their heels at times.  This should be a fun team to watch on Thursday!