Sierra Vista’s girls volleyball team — which features six underclassmen on its 16-player roster — clawed it way to a Class 4A state title Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Silverado.

The Mountain Lions relied on a mix of youth and senior leadership to get through the championship round, winning in four sets (15-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21) at Sunrise Mountain. After the Skyhawks claimed the first set, Sierra Vista rallied when coach Raymond Maika made some defensive adjustments to counter Silverado’s attack.

“I’m just ecstatic for them,” Maika said. “We played a great Silverado team, and they just dug deep.”

After that first set, both teams played pretty evenly with back-and-forth games. Mountain Lion seniors such as middle blocker Sienna Rhein provided the spark, while freshmen such as outs

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