Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

GILBERT - Once Gilbert Higley started to nail its serves, no amount of scrambling could keep Sunrise Mountain boys volleyball in Wednesday night's 5A semifinal at Highland High School.

#6 Sunrise Mountain (23-5) jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first set, thanks in part to some unforced errors by the Knights. Senior Chad Stewart led the way with four kills and senior Jon Igo capped the 25-21 set win, gaining the final two points on a kill and a block.

#7 Higley (21-11) controlled the next three sets with its service game. Four different Knights served aces and even when the Mustangs managed to corral them, players were forced out of synch.

"After the first set, they cranked up the aggressiveness on their serving. They served us out of our system," Sunrise Mountain coach Tony Gale said. "They didn't have a weak server."

Higley advanced to Friday night's title game against #5 Queen Creek American Leadership Academy with the 21-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-20 victory.

The Knights rarely looked back after senior Ben Furlong's kill drew the Mustangs within 14-13 in the second set. Seniors Dreyson Cattani and Zachary Fowkes led the South Gilbert school's attack in the tone-setting second set.

"We just wanted to control our errors. We gave them a set, so we told them, 'Let's go make them earn a set and see what happens," Higley coach Andrew Yamashiro said. "We always say serve touch. Sometimes it bites us in the butt a little bit. We attack our float serves and really go for it."

His team did not trail in the final two sets, and took advantage of some Mustang errors to cruise in the third set.

When not watching the points pile up senior setter Kyle Heaton directed Higley's attack with aplomb, making it hard to predict.

"He's, in my opinion, one of the best setters in the state. He's been phenomenal for us. He leads our team," Yamashiro said.

The roll continued, with the Knights taking leads of 6-0,12-3 and 16-7.

Sunrise Mountain did not yield, and took advantage of some Higley mistakes to get back in it. Igo and Stewart led the charge as their team got as close as 23-20. The hole was a bit too deep.

"That's one of the things I'm most proud of. That represents who they are. We never give up. We keep battling," Gale said. "When I took the time out I said, 'We want to represent ourselves well. This is not Sunrise Mountain volleyball.' At least we were true to ourselves."

The seven-player senior class that just finished its career was crucial in establishing that new standard for Sunrise Mountain boys volleyball.

Before this year, the Mustangs had recorded one playoff victory (in 2010) to go along with last season's play-in game win.

"I think it started three years ago when I made the decision that we needed to go young. We took our lumps. But these guys wanted to be good and put in the time and effort. A lot were club players," Gale said, "Last year set the bar but these guys thought they could raise it higher. From the beginning you could tell guys had grown their game. I have to say, at the end of the season, we were a better team."

Only outside hitter James Hansen and libero Jacob Faulkner - both juniors - will return from this season's rotation. Gale said sophomores Hayden Creel, Chris Middleton and Colton Tutrone also have shown promise.

"This is what the seniors' legacy is. I said (to the younger players), 'Now they're leaving it in your hands. What are you going to do with it?'" Gale said.