Pivotal victory

Inaugural win

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It was a volleyball match for the ages.

In a showdown between the top seeds from the Sunrise and Sunset regions in the Nevada Class 4A boys volleyball title game held May 17 at Canyon Springs High School in North Las Vegas, it was the team that grabbed the momentum last -- Palo Verde -- which ultimately won the title and brought home its first state championship.

After playing somewhat lethargic and losing the first two games to Sunrise Region champion and undefeated Silverado, the Panthers tried desperately to get their crowd into the game in the packed and raucous gym.

Tied 10-10 in the pivotal third game, Palo Verde went on a 10-0 run, led by spikes from middle blocker Spencer Haire and outside hitter Matt Pickering. The team successfully worked the crowd into a frenzy, sparking the Panthers' 25-16 win.

In the fourth game, the Skyhawks scored the first point, but Palo Verde tied it on the following point and would never let Silverado grab the lead. The Skyhawks pulled within one point twice, but could not catch the Panthers. The Sunset champs ultimately won, 25-22, to force a winner-take-all fifth game.

Not wanting to give back that precious flow of the match, Palo Verde, led by fifth-year coach Angie Vetter, grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in the fifth game thanks to a block by senior setter D.J. Kaanaana. But Silverado, coached by Eric Drum, dug down and rallied to tie the decisive game at 8-8 before the Panthers went on a 3-0 run, capped by a Pickering spike. Palo Verde grabbed an 11-8 lead and then scored two of the next three points to go up 13-9.

Silverado rallied to make it 13-11 on points by outside hitter Mike Garrard and setter Richard Arguello, forcing Vetter to take a timeout. Second-team Northwest selection Haire -- who recorded 35 blocks on the season -- responded to give Palo Verde a 14-11 lead, and after a long point in which the Skyhawks successfully saved a ball which went over one of the gym's girders, the Panthers ultimately won the point and the match, sending the team into a celebration that both they and their fans might have seen as unlikely just an hour earlier.

Asked after the match if Vetter said anything special to her team after falling behind 2-0, an exuberant Kaanaana said, "All she said was, 'Just get it together.' "

Kaanaana, who could be seen urging the Palo Verde crowd to get into the game by waving his hands in games three, four and five, said it all came down to simply wanting it more.

"It shows we're a family and that we have heart. Everybody on this team has heart," said Kaanaana, who led both teams with 41 assists. "Every single player on this team mattered. All 17 of us have heart."

Kaanaana's cousin and Northwest Division MVP, junior outside hitter Joe Kauliakamoa, who had 23 kills and nine digs in the championship match, was thrilled to finally help get the perennial volleyball powerhouse its first state title in the 18-25, 13-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-11 victory.

"This is amazing. It feels great," Kauliakamoa said. "She (Vetter) believed in us. We thought we lost it but we just stepped it up again. And when we played to that level, we stepped up and we won."

Kauliakamoa (560 kills, 127 aces, 157 digs on the season) said trying to knock off the only undefeated team in the Las Vegas Valley was a key motivating factor.

"That's what ran us. That's what made us go," he said. "Because they were undefeated, we wanted to show them that we're No. 1, not them."

Vetter admitted she was concerned when her taller team -- Palo Verde has eight players 6-foot-2 or taller, while Silverado has three -- fell behind, 2-0, after playing poorly to start the biggest match of the year.

"I was really worried, because I just didn't know what was going on. I was thinking, 'What team is this?' " said Vetter, who has led the Panthers to the regionals in all five of her years coaching at the Summerlin school. "I was worried from the beginning. They're (Silverado) a very solid team. They play phenomenal defense. They don't look the part, but they play the part."

Vetter, who coached her last game for Palo Verde, as she is moving to Boise, Idaho, was happy with how her veteran team responded to adversity.

"I can't even begin to explain how proud I am," she said of her Panthers, whose only two losses this season came in Northwest Division play to Centennial and Shadow Ridge. "They have so much character and so much heart. I think that they just believed in themselves and they believed in their ability and they knew they needed to step up and play better volleyball, and that's what they went out and decided to do."

Vetter said getting the Palo Verde fans in the crowd involved ended up being the key to capturing the championship.

"That was the changing point," Vetter said. "It was amazing because they kind of fed off each other and that's what really carried us through the third and fourth and fifth games was just the momentum, because we never let it go from that point."

Going out on top and helping the school win its first boys title is a great memory for Vetter, she said.

"It's a great way to go out, and I think the seniors feel exactly the same way," she said.

Besides first-team Northwest pick Pickering (11 kills in the match and 284 on the season) and Kaanaana (966 assists), Palo Verde's senior class included Danny Wray (142 digs), Tyler Lay, Kedy McCauliff, Kyle Millett, Andrew Smith and Reggie Velasquez.

Juniors on the Panthers' roster included Kauliakamoa, Haire, Reese Gneiting, Nick Bigler, Marcus Christensen, Kyle Capko, Bryant Sayas and Clayton Worthen, who was moved up from junior varsity to varsity.

Vetter said Kaanaana, a second-team Northwest selection who will attend Holy Names University in Oakland, Calif., next year, was instrumental in the team's success.

"D.J. is just a born leader, especially on the volleyball court," Vetter said. "The guys really look to him as a leader and a role model and he really motivates and pushes and expects nothing but 150 percent out of every single person that steps on the floor with him. And that is invaluable in a setter."

Vetter also spoke highly of the Panthers' two-time MVP and Nevada State Player of the Year Kauliakamoa, the last in a line of three talented siblings -- his sisters are Tamara and Trina -- who have played at Palo Verde.

"He's just a huge threat. He's a huge intimidation and is definitely a bonus to have on the floor," she said of Kauliakamoa, who also plays for the 2006 USA Youth National Team. "I'm just glad he's on my team."

The 6-foot-4 Pickering also played well enough to garner some attention at the next level.

"He's a stud," Vetter said. "He's looking to go to Lewis (University in Romeoville, Ill.) next year. Lewis won the Division I championship two years ago."

Another Panther who came up big in the title tilt was Haire, who had some key kills at the right time.

"He struggled a little bit in the beginning and then at the end there he really pulled through when we needed him to," said Vetter. "He did really, really well all year long. He's been a real, real important person on the floor. And then through the playoffs, he sort of struggled a bit -- his connection with D.J. was a little off there. But when it counted in state is when it happened."

Silverado was led in the championship match by Southeast Division MVP Arguello (34 assists) and first-team division selection Garrard (15 kills). Helping that duo to a memorable season were second-team picks Shawn Close and Thomas Sullivan, along with senior Kevin Turek; juniors David Royal, Joseph Paratore, Jordan Mitchell, Tony Sithong and Michael Habura; and sophomores Talon Goon and Trevik Jenkins.

Helping Southeast Coach of the Year Drum on the bench were assistants Jason Keener, Janet Green and Paepaevalu Agae.

Palo Verde's Vetter said she had the utmost respect for Drum and his team, which had just three seniors in its roster and may be the favorite in the Sunrise Region next season.

"Eric Drum is just a great coach and a really great guy and you've got to give a lot of credit to him and his team and the amount of courage they had coming out," Vetter said. "And the same with our team. It was a very entertaining and well-fought match on both sides."

Vetter said it will be hard leaving the team she's grown so close to over the last five years. Team members wore black "Believe in the System" T-shirts during warm-ups in homage to Vetter's coaching philosophy.

"It's really hard to leave them because I have a lot of respect for them and they have a lot of respect for me," said Vetter, who was assisted on the bench by Nicole Midyette.

But the coach said she felt a great sense of accomplishment in helping Palo Verde accomplish a goal the school has dreamed about for years.

"It's been a long time coming," she said.