Marana Mountain View jumped out to big leads in a 3-0 sweep over Canyon del Oro Tuesday night, only to see the Dorados battle back several times, but the final outcome is what matters most. The win pushed the Mountain Lions' record to 3-0 on the year while Canyon del Oro is now 5-4.

The Dorados went 4-2 and finished in third place at the TUSD Tournament last weekend, which explains the match disparity between the two porgrams, but the Mountain Lions will be headed out to Kellis High School next week to take part in the Cougar Invitational and the program will host the View Invitational at the end of the month.

Mountain View jumped out to an 18-7 lead in the first set but the Dorados slowly chipped away at that lead until the gap closed to 24-21, but a kill from Caleb Crook ended the threat for the 25-21 win. The second set started out much the same way, with Mountain View giving up a 10-2 lead but something started to click and the team finished on a 15-7 run for the 25-15 win.

“They seemed too comfortable and not focused,” said Mountain View head coach Lindsey Spivey. “Our passing failed us early but then our hitters were having difficulty. We have to play more consistently in our game with Tucson (0-1) tomorrow night."

(Darean Schug/Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Crook ended with 10 kills, as did sophomore Trevy Kelly, but it was the play of senior setter Darean Schug that made the difference. Schug finished with 28 assists and 11 digs but it was his presence on the court that set the tone and, as his coach notes, his off court presence is just as valuable.

“He’s a natural born leader and I’ve given him authority and autonomy on the court but, with that comes a lot of responsibility, so he makes sure behaviors are taken care of off the court also. It’s really amazing because this is only his third year of playing volleyball.”

Mountain View took the third set 25-12 for the sweep but Schug collected his 11 digs and Preston Gibbons put up 20 which meant there were plenty of shots coming from the Dorado side of the net. In time, more of those balls will find the floor.

“We have an athletic team with our starting quarterback, a state champion wrestler and a forward from our basketball team,” said head coach Brian Swingle. “It takes about four weeks to get all those athletes ready for volleyball but that’s how we do things here. We do our best with all the athletes we can get.”

It used to be the norm to have the football player (Zach Eidenschink), the wrestler (Trey Trejo) and the basketball player (Tyler Lerew) get together to play a second or third sport together but specialization and the growth of club sports has made that almost impossible. The Dorado roster was loaded with golfers last year, including standout Jack Call, and that squad made it to the 5A playoffs so it is almost certain Swingle will be able to do it once again.

Lerew led Canyon del Oro with 14 kills and Jacob Lovendahl had 22 assists.

 

NOTE

Queen Creek American Leadership Academy went 7-0 to capture the championship of the TUSD Tournament for the second year in a row. The Patriots have won 14 matches in a row at the tournament after going 0-5 in 2017. Pueblo took second place with a 5-2 record, losing to ALA 25-23, 25-23 in the championship match. Canyon del Oro lost to Pueblo in the semifinal round.