Boys' volleyball: Brophy sweeps Chandler
No. 3 Brophy had no trouble beating No. 9 Chandler on Friday, sweeping the Wolves.
The Broncos were dominant in their first two sets of play, both sets won by a 25-15 margin. Chandler challenged more in the third but the Broncos edged the Wolves by five points (25-20.)
This game was a rematch from earlier in the season in which Brophy beat Chandler, 2-0, in the Wolf Howl Tournament.
"The advantage we have playing a team like Chandler is most of the guys on their team play club with some of our guys," said Brophy head coach Tony Oldani. "We come in with a pretty good understanding of who they are and what they can do."
The Broncos were led by junior outside hitter Connor Oldani, senior setter Patrick Oldani and junior outside hitter Caden Thompson, each getting eight unofficial kills. Patrick led the team with 18 unofficial assists.
This is the seventh sweep for the Broncos in AIA sanctioned games this season, and the Broncos now sit with an 8-1 record, currently in second place in the 6A Premier region.
However, Brophy's next game could give them the opportunity to climb into first place in the region, as they travel to Gilbert Perry in their next game. Perry is currently the No. 2 team in the 6A AIA rankings and is in first place in the 6A Premier Region with a 7-0 record. Coach Oldani knows his team needs to play with focus in order to keep their good form going into a potential championship run.
"It's one of the things we keep harping on, which is having urgency and playing with urgency," said Oldani. "The guys have it in their sights to get to the finals. Our work ethic in practice is good and our senior leadership is good."
Brophy has been one of the best 6A volleyball schools in the state, making two trips to the 6A semifinals the past two seasons. Unfortunately, the Broncos would be eliminated by Perry in 2021 and Sandra Day O'Connor in 2022. However, both of those losses occurred on the road, not at home. Coach Oldani understands how important it is to finish as a top two team and get to host a semifinal game.
"We've talked about how important it is to get to host that semifinal," said Oldani. "That's definitely hurt us the last two years (going) on the road in the semis, so that's the first big hump. If we can host the semis, that would put us in a really good chance to make the finals."
The match leaves Brophy with an overall record of 8-1, while Chandler falls to 6-2.
Chandler's next game is against No. 4 Sandra Day O'Connor on Tuesday at Sandra Day O'Connor High School.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Boys' volleyball: Brophy sweeps Chandler
