It needs a new
sibling.
The 2018
volleyball team is going to do its best to make that happen.
The
second-seeded Gators (32-9) are set to meet No. 4 Tempe Corona del Sol (29-13) in
a rematch of last year’s title match on Wednesday (Nov. 7) at Arizona State’s
Wells Fargo Arena. Firsts serve is 8 p.m. The contest will be preceded by the
5A championship match.
Both teams
reached this point in surprising fashion in Monday’s (Nov. 5) semifinals.
Xavier had
lost to No. 3 Chandler Hamilton three times, once in an invitational and twice
during the regular season, including a shutout in the last one on Oct. 23. But
the Gators, with one of their best all-around efforts of the season, controlled
the semi pretty much throughout and recorded a 3-0 sweep, 25-21, 26-24 and 25-16.
Corona del
Sol staged a big-time rally to stun top-seeded Gilbert Perry. The Aztecs
dropped the first two games, 25-18 and 25-15 before roaring back for a 25-21,
25-21, 15-7 victory.
How did
Xavier do it against Hamilton?
Senior
setter and Under Armour All-American Shannon Shields described the Gators’
mindset.
“We were all
talking about this the other day, and there was just a good feeling,’’ said
Shields, who had 28 assists and provided several key serves. “We wanted to play
this with a lot of energy and teamwork, and as seniors, we wanted to help push
the team through. Basically, we had lost to Hamilton too many times and we went
“all in’ to stop that.’’
Said coach
Lamar-Renee Bryant: “We managed ourselves better. We talked about how golf
(champion) and swimming (runner-up) had been competitive and we wanted to do
that, too. This is the time where we feel we can start to shine.
“All of the
girls contributed, and it sure makes the coaches smile.’’
In the first
game, Xavier had a five-point run to overcome an early Hamilton lead, but the
Huskies came back. They held an 18-14 lead when Bryant called timeout after a
long Xavier serve. The Gators went on to lead briefly before Hamilton pulled
even. It was 21-all when Xavier took over. Hamilton blocked a Xavier shot out
of bounds, Gator senior Jennelle Yarwood had a service ace, junior Juli
Westfall had a kill and junior Bri McKnight had the finishing kill.
A long serve
by Xavier enabled Hamilton to pull even at 23 in Game 2. McKnight had another
kill and Hamilton returned a shot out of bounds go give Xavier the win.
In Game 3,
Hamilton had three service aces in a row for an early lead, and it looked as if
the Huskies were on the way to forcing a Game 4. Xavier came back to tie it at
9, and an ace by Shields put the Gators ahead for good. They pulled away and
never were seriously challenged after that.
Xavier was
strong defensively all night. Bryant called the blocking effort one of the
team’s best of the season. Senior Hayley Nash led the way with four. Senior
libero Ashley Yeung had 12 digs and three aces. Junior Jasmine Knight led the
team with 13 kills, Westfall had nine and McKnight seven.
Now Xavier
must find a way to hold off Corona del Sol. Xavier swept the Aztecs at Corona,
3-0, on Sept. 11, but the Aztecs have four transfers, senior Mary Shroll from
Tempe Prep (former 2A Player of the Year), setter Ashley Hayden and middle
blocker Jenna Bolena from Phoenix Desert Vista, and setter McKenna Olsen from
Gilbert Mesquite.
Note
It would be
a good idea for fans planning to attend the final match to visit the Arizona
Interscholastic Association Web site, azpreps365.com, for parking information
(including fees), as well as entry and bag policies.
No comments:
Post a Comment