SUNSET VOLLEYBALL: Palo Verde makes most of little things, moves into title match

They say it’s the little things that mean the most.

That was true for Palo Verde’s boys volleyball team, Thursday night during a 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23 victory over Durango in the semifinals of the Sunset Region tournament at Legacy.

Clinging to a 24-23 lead in the final set, the Panthers got a key dig from senior Ryan Vogelei, just before Jason Landman’s kill shot sailed wide for the Trailblazers to end the match.

Palo Verde (29-10), the Southwest League’s No. 1 seed, has won 13 of 14 matches since the end of March and has dropped just one set in its last three matches. The Panthers will meet Arbor View (35-3) in the championship at 7 p.m. on Friday at Legacy.

“Our guys have been through a lot, in different matches, a lot of five-setters, we’ve seen a lot of good teams,” Palo Verde coach Phil Clarke said. “So we said to ourselves there’s not a lot we haven’t seen, and they showed their mental toughness. That finishing set, that closing set is always going to be the toughest one. So we knew they were going to come out fighting. They played hard. Both teams hard. We just made one more play than they did.”

With the score tied 12-12 in the fourth set, the Trailblazers went on a 5-1 run to move ahead 17-13, but the Panthers responded by scoring seven of the games next eight points. It remained close until the final sequence.

“You never want to go into a fifth set,” said Palo Verde senior libero Jacob Scheer, who had 12 digs. “They’re a pretty emotional team, and when they get the momentum they’re pretty good. We just had to make sure to stay calm and couldn’t overlook (them). We had to keep our energy up that whole fourth set.”

Haden Van Orden led Palo Verde with 31 assists and six digs. Tristan Bradford (11 kills) and Taylor Miller (nine kills) also had strong matches for the Panthers.

After squandering a four-point lead and losing the opening set, the Panthers stole the momentum in the match by dominating the second set by opening up leads of 11-4, 14-6 and 19-11 before holding on for the nine-point win.

Durango (25-16), the Southwest’s No. 3 seed, stayed close in the third set, tying the score at 7-7. But Palo Verde used a recipe of great passing, precise serving and dominant net play to go on a 10-3 run and open up a 17-10 lead and eventually winning by four.

Michael Diggins had 19 kills, five digs and four blocks for the Trailblzers. Andre Shabazz added 31 assists, 11 digs, three kills and two blocks for Durango, which got 13 digs from Marc Viernes and six kills from Landman.

Arbor View 3, Centennial 1 — The Aggies held off a late rally by Centennial in the fourth set, to win their match 25-14, 27-25, 26-28, 25-21.

The Bulldogs (12-12) staved off four-elimination points after trailing 24-17, but couldn’t complete the comeback to force a fifth game.

Brenden Wagner had 20 kills and seen digs, and Treven Clizbe had 21 kills, six digs and three bocks to lead Arbor View. Brenden Gougen added 39 assists, 10 digs and four kills, Michael Prescia had 21 digs, adn Steven Rasmussen had six blocks for the Aggies.

Grant Nelson had 41 assists and 10 digs to pace Centennial. Farries Gardner added 11 kills, Justin Dietrick had 10 kills, and Kade Frischknecht provided nine kills, seven digs and three blocks for the Bulldogs.