Volleyball: Gilbert defeats Perry to win Foothills Invite in Tucson

March 15, 2015 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Gilbert's Jeff Grover talks things over.
(Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

Gilbert Perry defeated Gilbert at the Chandler Wolf Howl Tourney a week ago and Gilbert returned the favor Saturday to win the championship of the Tucson Catalina Foothills Invite.

Perry and Gilbert were both Division I semifinalists last year although the two teams never met in the regular season or in the playoffs. It was evident the two squads were on a collision course to meet up in the final on Saturday after both teams earned the top two seeds after pool play.

Tucson Rincon/University High almost crashed the party after upsetting Chandler Hamilton in bracket play before taking Gilbert to three sets in the semifinal round.

Matt Cox is in his fifth year at Rincon but is in his first year as the head coach and he sees plenty of positives from his squad.

"We have Nick Ogden on one side and Juan Figueroa-Cecco on the other end so it will be hard for defenses to key on one guy," Cox explained. "We have excellent defense and passing and we are channeling our defense to score for us. With Ogden and Figueroa, our setter has plenty of options depending on which side is open."

Perry head coach Brian Pomerantz had to go with a couple of his top scorers missing due to spring break but the Pumas still put up an impressive showing based on the balance the team has developed.

"If you look across the net we have great numbers from each guy and that gives us balance," said Pomerantz. "Our leadership is also good with our senior captain setter Cameron Harris distributing the ball and helping the juniors."

Jeff Grover sees 6-foot-4 Byron Hurd and Onias Snuka as his two leaders on floor. "We are a young team but we play our roles pretty well," Grover explained. "Lots of intensity and we are excited to see how things turn out this year."

Snuka's sister Penina is a setter for the University of Arizona.