Sierra Vista ousts champs, meets C-M for Sunset title

Nick Christensen

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 9:52 a.m.

Centennial boys' volleyball coach Roger Brown believes his team is the type to come from behind and never lead by more than three points.

Centennial, the defending state champion, did manage to tie Thursday's Sunset Region semifinal match with Sierra Vista a couple times, but the Lions prevailed at Coronado High as they advanced to the Sunset Region final, 25-14, 25-17, 25-16.

Sierra Vista (SW-1) squares off against Cimarron-Memorial (NW-1) for the Sunset championship today. The Spartans struggled with Bonanza in the day's best match, but prevailed in five games, 25-19, 14-25, 25-18, 12-25, 15-13.

The Sunrise final features Coronado (SE-1) and Chaparral (NE-1). The Cougars won again in three games, ousting Las Vegas (NE-2), 26-24, 25-21, 25-23. The Cowboys defeated Silverado (SE-2), 15-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23.

All four region finalists are qualified for next week's 4A State Tournament. The region title games will determine seeding for the state playoffs, in which Sierra Vista is a likely favorite.

Brandon Harris led Sierra Vista against the Bulldogs (NW-2) with 11 kills. The Lions' Chad Waldron had 30 assists and six aces. Centennial outside hitter Kevin Sagers had 11 kills and an ace.

"First, they're a great team. Sierra Vista has been like that all year," Brown said. "They served their tail ends off. I give them all the credit."

Four Lions recorded service aces. Harris said it was a particular point of interest for him and his teammates.

"Our serve is very important," Harris said. "We worked all Monday, and all we did was serve."

The closest the match got was when Centennial tied Sierra Vista at 5 in the third game. But Sierra Vista closed them out with a 10-4 run to advance.

"They were a lot stronger in the past," Lions coach Camille McComas said. "One of our focuses tonight was to keep control from the start."

The Lions' Harris, Jordan Seager and Garrett Callender combined for 25 kills. Sierra Vista's dominance was just too much, Brown said.

"You only get two timeouts, and you can only pump up your team so much," he said. "I was disappointed (that) our passes weren't as crisp; I don't think our focus was on it, or maybe we were focusing too much."

Sierra Vista has yet to struggle this season, cruising along with wins over most of the city's top teams. Thursday was no different. With the win, Sierra Vista moved to a Southern Nevada-best 21-1 on the year.

"We really felt control through the whole game," Harris said. "I was really surprised. Sagers is a good hitter, but he didn't get into his groove."

Without Sagers at full strength, Centennial is not the same team.

"We didn't bring our A-game," Brown said. "And when you don't bring your A-game, you end up having to go to summer school."