Bengals take volleyball title

James Yodice

Thursday, May 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Bonanza High School clinched the Sunset Division boys' volleyball title on Wednesday night with a hard-fought four-game victory at Bishop Gorman.

The Bengals (22-9 overall) beat the Gaels 15-8, 15-9, 11-15, 15-11. To catch Bonanza, Gorman needed to beat Bonanza and then hope the Bengals lost at least one more match before the end of the regular season next Wednesday.

But Bonanza setter Jeric Leavitt responded with one of his best matches this season, distributing 71 assists to his teammates.

Danny Jensen also enjoyed a terrific match, firing 37 kills against the Gaels. He also had 10 blocks.

Eric Davis had 14 kills and 32 digs for the Bengals, who join Green Valley as top seeds for the Southern Nevada zone tournament May 22-24 in Las Vegas. Bonanza is 11-0 in the division, three games ahead of Gorman and Cheyenne.

With only three matches left in the season, Cheyenne took over third place in the Sunset Division with a three-game sweep at Cimarron-Memorial. The scores were 15-11, 15-8, 15-3.

Brad Bywater had 16 blocks and 11 kills for the defending state champion Desert Shields, who with the win forged a second-place tie with Bishop Gorman at 8-3. Those teams play next Wednesday night at Gorman.

Also for Cheyenne, Cameron Steele had 15 kills and six blocks. The Desert Shields had three players record a least 20 digs as the Cheyenne defense thwarted Cimarron's hitting.

In other matches Wednesday night, Basic swept Valley, 15-6, 15-3, 15-3; Durango stopped Western in three games, 15-9, 15-3, 15-7, as Jon Port had 17 kills and Nathan Earl 32 assists; Chaparral stopped Rancho in four games, 15-10, 9-15, 16-14, 15-8 as Sam Miner and David Mirc combined for 25 kills, and Matt Hammond recorded 21 service points; Eldorado outlasted Vo-Tech in four games, 12-15, 15-10, 15-7, 15-2; Green Valley stayed unbeaten with a three-game sweep of Las Vegas, 15-13, 15-11, 15-6; and Clark outlasted Silverado in the Sunset Division, 5-15, 15-6, 12-15, 16-14, 17-15.

Softball stars

Softball coaches on Wednesday voted the all-division teams for the 1997 season. The most valuable player in the Sunrise Division was Green Valley shortstop Crissy Buck. The most valuable player in the Sunset Division was Clark catcher Stephanie Italiano.

The most valuable pitcher in Sunrise was Eldorado's Amanda Berg, while Silverado's Tiffany Finateri earned the same honor in the Sunset Division.

Cimarron-Memorial's Gary Kaempfer was chosen coach of the year in the Sunset Division; Green Valley's Cindi Davis was recognized in the Sunrise Division.

Zone baseball

The first round of the Class 4A zone tournament is this afternoon at two sites. Cimarron-Memorial plays Rancho and Bishop Gorman takes on Las Vegas at Durango. At Eldorado, Durango meets Chaparral and Green Valley faces Silverado.

The top four teams advance to next weekend's second round of zone.