Columnist Adam Candee: Coronado girls rescue season with comeback

Adam Candee

Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 10:47 a.m.

Adam Candee covers high school sports for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

The hope and promise of Coronado's finest season helplessly floated back to the Silverado side of the net, where two Skyhawks waited to pound down an errant pass and end the Cougars' title dreams Thursday at Coronado High School in the Sunrise Region semifinals.

Coronado middle blocker Jenna Newman, one of the team's six seniors, almost couldn't watch the Skyhawks' fourth-game match point chance.

"I'm praying," Newman said of those few seconds. "I'm just praying the whole time."

The Skyhawks, though, went into the net going up for the overpass. Coronado capitalized on the reprieve to win the game, then topped their amazing escape by taking the fifth game to complete a stunning comeback, 18-25, 20-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-10.

"For my girls to come back from a (two-game) deficit in the playoffs shows a whole lot of heart and desire," Coronado coach Jay Renneker said.

Southeast Division champion Coronado advances to today's region championship against Green Valley (SE-2), which swept Las Vegas, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21, to advance in the other Sunrise semifinal.

Newman paced the Cougars with 22 kills and made her greatest contributions with Coronado seemingly finished in the fourth game. Trailing 20-15 in rally scoring, Newman came up with three kills to pull Coronado close and then turned a back-row set into the corner for the kill that restored breath for the Cougars.

All in a day's work, Newman feels.

"There had to be leadership, and I demanded the ball and had to get the job done," Newman said.

Getting the job done for Silverado was sophomore outside hitter Sam Richard. Displaying the poise of a veteran and the talent of a phenom, Richard did her best to will the young Skyhawks to the upset with a combination of powerful hitting and heady decision-making.

With only one senior, Silverado coach Rachael Blair needed to expect such efforts from Richard.

"Sam's Wonder Woman," Blair said. "She makes a lot of saves for us. She comes out of nowhere with a lot of great plays."

In the end, it was Newman and the Cougars who had a few more plays, fighting off a Silverado charge in the fifth game. Coronado led 11-10 and scored four straight points to win.

"It's exciting because we didn't play the way we should have, but we still pulled through," Newman said. "We had the regional jitters, for sure."

Junior outside hitter Devan Corbitt added 16 kills for Coronado.

In the Sunset Region, Southwest powers Durango (SW-1) and Bishop Gorman (SW-2) will face off today for the championship. The Blazers took both matchups against the Gaels in division play.

Defending state champion Durango easily handled Palo Verde (SW-2), 25-17, 25-15, 25-19. Bishop Gorman struggled at times with Northwest champion Centennial, but survived in four games, 20-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-20."