By Don Ketchum

The boys’ volleyball team from Glendale Mountain Ridge might have done Glendale Deer Valley a favor by defeating the Skyhawks in the third game of their Division I state tournament match on Saturday (May 5) at Deer Valley.

Fourth-seeded Deer Valley awakened and put the match away with a victory in the fourth game to advance to the next round on Tuesday (May 8). Deer Valley will host fifth-seeded Gilbert at 7 p.m.

Deer Valley won the first two games on Saturday, 25-16 and 25-11, 20^th-seeded Mountain Ridge took a 26-24 win in the third game and Deer Valley took the fourth 25-18.

“We’ve had a little bit of a problem maintaining our focus after winning games by big scores, but we are very resilient. We’ve been there before. You have to earn every point,’’ said Deer Valley co-coach Kim Ulrich-Suss.

Drake Silbernagel, a 6-foot-8 senior, and fellow middle blocker Jackson Burge, a 6-6 junior, dominated the front line on offense and defense.

But Deer Valley has more than that in its arsenal.

Junior outside hitters Daniel Villela and Sam Walberer and senior opposite hitter Andrew Warren also play significant roles.

“We didn’t serve like we should have today. We need to serve more consistently,’’ Ulrich-Suss said.

Co-Coach Eric Palmer said, “There are a lot of tough teams out there, but if we play Deer Valley volleyball, we feel we can play with anybody.’’

Volleyball can be an emotional game, but you must be able to control it, he added.

Ulrich-Suss said the team is looking forward to playing Gilbert.

“The media seems to be fired up about Gilbert, and it is our job to go out and make a statement,’’ she said.

In order to do so, Deer Valley must not allow its opponent to gain too much of an early advantage.