Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Deer Valley boys volleyball sputtered through its first game at Centennial Thursday night as the game, but inexperienced Coyotes played them to a 16-16 draw.

Then junior outside hitter Ben Nguyen blasted two kills and senior setter Matthew Geiser served two aces. And with that, the Skyhawks kicked into overdrive.

Deer Valley (8-4 overall, 5-1 regular season) dominated the rest of the way, sweeping Centennial (3-6, 2-3) 25-21, 25-17, 25-15.

"Our setter, Jack Puentes, does a great job of being the emotional leader of the team. He  can rile them up," Deer Valley co-coach Kim Ulrich-Suss said. "We need to learn how to get up but not get too excited and come down. We're still working on that part of that. But we're very excited."

Juniors led the way for the visitors. Nathan Chapparo led the way with 13 kills – six of them in the first game.

Nguyen also had six kills in the first game and he finished with 12 overall. More than that, he controlled the final two games of the match with his spin heavy jump serve.

"I worked on my float (serve) first and once I got my float down, coach gave me permission to use the jump serve," Nguyen said.

Centennial had its moments Thursday. But the Coyotes' roster is full of upperclassmen who do not focus on volleyball and are new to the game's nuances.

While Deer Valley is led mostly by juniors like Chapparo, Nguyen, Puentes, Matthew Beard, Fiamuhr Ghasi and Nathan Schrade, the core of its lineup boasts far more volleyball experience. Plus most of them have played together for years and currently play for Club Fusion in the high school offseason.

"We're not young, but we're not volleyball experienced. Reactions and blocks are a bit slow. Deer Valley has a very good setter who's very hard to read. It makes it hard on inexperienced middles. There were moments, like the first set, where we competed and were right in it," Centennial coach Cari Bauer said. "We went through stretches where we couldn't pass. If you give Deer Valley free balls, they're going to ram it down your throat."

Basketball players often lead the way for the Coyotes. Senior Kaden Cox had five kills and basketball star Koby Jones, in his first varsity volleyball season, added six.

The most consistent Coyote, senior Dawson Anderson, also had five kills on the night.

"Shout out to Centennial because they're always such a scrappy team. We hate coming to this gym because Cari is an amazing coach, and she always has those boys playing great against us. We're lucky to get a win here," Ulrich-Suss said.

Deer Valley wants to repeat as Phoenix Region champions and to see if it can better last year's state playoffs quarterfinal berth.

Centennial's goals, Bauer said, are simply to continue to improve and finish well enough to get in a 5A play-in game.

"We're not there yet. Some of them don't play sports where you need a short-term memory. Moving on to the next play and the unforced errors, making a team having to earn things, and decision making are the key," Bauer said. "I want us to compete in the region and steal a few matches. You just have to get in at the end. It's a great group of kids."

Deer Valley's Andrew Fausett hits a ball over the net while Centennial junior Dallin Dutry leaps to block it on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at Centennial High School in Peoria. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]