Cienega boys volleyball wins 5A Conference championship

Tariq Denetso thought back to training.

Minutes after his deflection won Cienega its first state title since 2017, the junior outside hitter remembered working on the move that he used to block the set-tying shot from Gilbert's Trenton Moser.

"We practiced that in practice, where I would go up and just block backwards," Denetso said. "I would watch Trenton and see his elbow where (it) went and I would go right where it was."

Denetso's play clinched the Bobcats' 3-0 win over GIlbert (25-19, 25-19, 28-26) in Saturday's 5A title match, returning the squad to the pinnacle of Arizona high school boys volleyball after a loss in last year's championship.

The win is a massive achievement for a program that faced difficult matches throughout its season — including against 4A runner-up American Leadership Academy-Gilbert North — and persevered, just like it did Saturday at Skyline High School against one of the top programs in the division.

"It's huge for me," head coach Heather Mott said. "It's huge for our principal. It's huge for our community. It's just huge all the way around."

Heading into their third finals appearance in five years, the Bobcats (34-4) knew they had to focus on Moser, a 6-7 senior outside hitter committed to Brigham Young University. But their strategy wasn't to stop him. It was to slow him down. As junior opposite hitter/middle blocker Mason Tippett put it: "We knew where the ball was going 90 percent of the time."

The Tigers (28-6) certainly used Moser in the first set, lofting passes to the front left of the court, where he waited to spike them. But Cienega was still able find success from players such as senior outside hitter/middle blocker Derrick Vargas, who stood tall at the net to deflect some of Moser's shot attempts. These efforts not only gave the Bobcats the first set, but also ways to take advantage during the rest of the match.

Senior outside hitter Taylor Allen and Tippett fired a mix of fast, lobbed and slow-moving shots that found holes in Gilbert's formation. Meanwhile, Denetso joined Vargas and others blocking the ball up close, while sophomore libero Jake Shroder advantageously positioned his serve so his teammates could quickly go on the offensive.

These strategies helped them take control in the second frame, gaining a 20-9 lead at one point.

"We don't have one guy," Mott said. "We have eight or nine guys and then the guys that sit over here that got us ready to be here."

Even though Gilbert had a late surge, Cienega held on for the set. A similar story occured in the third, as the Tigers led on multiple occassions -- including 19-17 and 25-24 for set point.

So during a timeout, the Bobcats regrouped. Allen remembers his teammates telling one another to keep calm and play one ball at a time, while Tippett recalled Mott getting honest with her players.

"Our coach was like, 'We played so much volleyball this season and we don't need to play anymore,'" Tippett said. "'So let's finish this.'"

And they did, thanks to a spectacular play from Denetso, a first-year varsity player.

It also finished a narrative that Cienega couldn't return to the mountaintop. That's why some thought the Bobcats, who were swept in last year's conference title match, were overrated. So the team and its supporters chanted the word during the trophy presentation.

"We just went out and proved that we're not overrated," Denetso said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cienega boys volleyball wins 5A Conference and earns first title since 2017