Friday, Nov. 5, 2004 | 10:04 a.m.
Determined not to take part in the same nightmare for a second straight year, Sam Richard cranked up for a swing even more powerful than her usual blasts on the first play of the fourth game.
A resounding rip through the block made just the statement Silverado needed against Coronado in its Thursday semifinal match of the Sunrise Region playoffs: This year, there will be no miracle comeback.
Silverado, the top seed from the Southeast Division, rolled through the fourth game to complete a 25-20, 25-19, 15-25, 25-16 victory against the Cougars (SE-3). The win sends the undefeated Skyhawks (21-0) into tonight's region title game against Green Valley (SE-2), a 25-22, 25-11, 25-19 winner against Foothill (SE-4) in the other semifinal.
After winning the first two games against Coronado, Silverado dropped the third game, just as it had in 2003. The Skyhawks let the Cougars come all the way back last year to steal a five-game heartbreaker that bounced Silverado from the Sunrise playoffs.
Richard, a junior outside hitter whom Silverado coach Rachael Blair once termed "Wonder Woman," quickly made sure her team would not end up in the same situation again.
"We fired it up a lot," Richard said. "We couldn't lose to them because it happened to us last year. We won the first two and lost the last three, so that wasn't happening again."
That first kill spurred Silverado to a 13-2 run to open the fourth game, as the Skyhawks used big plays from middle blocker Kelli Royal, outside hitter Kelsey Habura and setter Jamie Mellies to regain control of the match.
"We needed to make a statement at the beginning," Richard said.
Blair went through the agony of the loss to Coronado a year ago with a team of mostly underclassmen, including a freshman setter in Mellies. With another year of experience and some senior leadership, Blair felt confident that her team would not wilt under the pressure of holding off Coronado's charge.
"The difference this year is that they believe in each other and they're playing as a team," Blair said. "They didn't play as a team last year, but they (played) as a team (Thursday)."
And it never hurts to have a go-to player like Richard leading the way, as she did in the fourth game.
"She came out with fire," Blair said. "She came into the huddle and said, 'Let's do it. We're going to state. Let's do this right now.' We went back out there and put it away."
Blair continued: "The girls, I think in the fourth game, came back and started focusing on what they had to do rather than what was going on on the other side (of the net)."
In the Sunset Region, division winners Bishop Gorman and Palo Verde advanced to today's region championship. The Gaels (SW-1) quickly dispatched Centennial (SW-2), 25-19, 25-7, 25-11. The Panthers (NW-1) handled Sierra Vista (SW-2) in four games, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17.
The winners of both region championship games advance to next week's 4A State Tournament at Galena High School in Reno.
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