Centennial 3 Bonanza 1 NIAA PLAYOFFS
Jason Smith | May 14, 2010 | Comments 0
Centennial 3 Bonanza 1 (25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18)
As the afternoon moved on and more people entered the gym the excitement rose. Centennial and Bonanza put on a very entertaining match that really exemplified prep sport spirit. Bonanza started strong in game one and Centennial showed some jitters with some early overly aggressive errors. By the end of the set things got really tight and the Bulldogs pulled out a two point victory. Very impressive throughout the match was S Leo Durkin who was not only very cagey with his decisions but very aggressive which in my humble opinion pressed his hitters to a higher level. Set 2 was also very stirring with both teams going back and forth with solid play and errors. Centennial won more of the long rallies and the set. Bonanza fought back strong in set 3 racing out to an early lead. The Bengals were led by hitters Jason Bedford and Jared Harrington. Both of these hitters really brought their game throughout the match but went to a new level in game 3. Game 4 was quite close in the first half of the match before Centennial pulled to an 18-12 lead with Leo Durkin serving and some very nice defense from L Cameron Olsen. Olsen’s defense, passing and block coverage was very nice throughout the latter stages of the match.
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About the Author: Jason Smith was the assistant coach at UNLV from 2008-2010.
Smith came to UNLV after a two-year stint as the head coach at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Ariz.
In his two years at the helm of the AWC Matador volleyball program he amassed a record of 47-26, which included back-to-back 20-win seasons and a 27-8 record in 2007.
Smith helped AWC to its seventh and eighth straight Region I titles. The Matadors were crowned ACCAC (Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) champions in 2007. The 2007 squad came one win shy of reaching the program's first-ever berth into the NJCAA Tournament, as it lost in the District A Championship match.
In all, Smith coached one NJCAA All-America, one ACCAC Player of the Year and six all-region performers.
Prior to AWC, Smith spent three years in the Mountain West Conference at Utah. As a Ute assistant, he saw the team reach the NCAA Tournament on three occasions and rack up a winning percentage of 73% (69-25). He was a part of one MWC Championship squad in 2005, as Utah defeated BYU for the title in Las Vegas.
In his three years in Salt Lake City, he saw 23 Utes named to Academic All-MWC teams.
Before joining Utah, Smith spent two years at Ferris State (NCAA Div. II) and Iowa Western Community College after beginning his coaching career at Avila College (NAIA).
Smith played collegiately at Graceland University in 1992. At Graceland, he was a member of several regional championship teams while earning his bachelor's degree in business and economics.
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