AURORA – Top-seeded Discovery Canyon snuck by No. 4 Legend, while No. 7 Eaglecrest continued its hot streak and upset No. 3 Valor Christian to both advance to the semifinal round of the Boys Volleyball State Championship at Overland High School Friday afternoon.
Discovery Canyon picked up a 25-21 first-set victory before Legend evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 win. Discovery Canyon then squeaked out a pair of two-point victories, 26-24 and 27-25, respectively, to secure the 3-1 win and a spot in the semifinals.
Eaglecrest, coming off a five-set win over second-seeded Bear Creek late last night, carried its momentum into tonight as it picked up a pair of 25-22 wins in the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead. Valor Christian narrowly worked its way back into the match with a 25-23 win in the third set and then a 25-20 victory in the fourth. Eaglecrest responded with a 15-12 victory to mark their second big upset in as many matches.
Discovery Canyon and Eaglecrest will face off in the semifinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. The winner will advance to the championship game while the loser will have an opportunity to play its way back into the championship game through the fourth-round consolation game.
In the consolation bracket, fifth-seeded Douglas County used a 3-1 (25-14, 21-25, 25-15, 25-15) win over No. 8 seed Castle View to advance to the second round where it swept No. 3 seed Valor Christian by scores of 25-19, 25-17 and 25-21.
No. 2 seed Cherokee Trail also used a 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19) victory over No. 6 Bear Creek to advance in the bracket. Cherokee Trail’s run would end there, though, as came up just short to No. 4 Legend in the second-round consolation game. Legend used a 3-1 (24-26, 27-25, 25-21, 27-25) victory to advance to the third round of the consolation bracket.
The third-round consolation game between Douglas County and Legend will be played tomorrow at 11 a.m., with the winner advancing to the fourth-round consolation game. The winner of the fourth-round consolation game will advance to the championship game.