The Central Cyclones came ready to play on Tuesday night.

The Cyclones dominated the first two sets against the Cornerstone Falcons and then came back to win in the third for the three-set sweep of their quarterfinal match-up in the Moose Jaw High School Senior Girls Volleyball League.

“Everybody got out there and executed very well,” said Central head coach Joe Gunnis.  “They executed the game plan and we served and passed really well, and that made all the difference for sure.”

Central hosted Cornerstone for the 4/5 quarterfinal game to kick off the senior volleyball playoffs in Moose Jaw.

The first set saw the Cyclones make quick work of the Falcons, winning 25-7.  They carried that strong play over into the second set with a 25-16 win.

The Falcons showed some resilience in the third set and jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, they continued to lead until late in the set when the Cyclones found their footing again and pulled out a 25-20 win to finish off the match.

“They started to pass a little better and be more aggressive in that third set, which was a key for them, and we just had to adjust to that and the girls did, so I’m really proud of them,” said Gunnis.

Cornerstone came out flat to start the night and dug too big of a hole to climb out of.  Falcons head coach Cam Lewis said it was a disappoint end to their league season.

“Volleyball is a big mental sport and we didn’t come with the right mental approach and it really effected the play all night,” said Lewis.  “We prepared well for this game, but just weren’t able to bring it.”

This was the Falcons first season back at the senior level after spending the past few seasons at the junior varsity level.

They grew over the course of the season and Lewis said they were able to compete with every team throughout the year, which is something they hope to build off going into future seasons.

“This season was a good eye-opener for our girls, especially our younger girls, to see that this is how the game is suppose to be played, but I was really happy with how we did,” said Lewis. “With the exception of tonight’s game, we battled pretty hard all season long, this was probably one of our weaker efforts.”

Lewis added that seeing tougher competition throughout the season will help them now as they prepare to host the 3A girls conference playdowns on Saturday.

The Cyclones will turn their focus to the first place Caronport Cougars, who they will meet in the league semifinals on Thursday night.

“They’re the best team in the league, there’s no doubt about that, but we’ll go out there and battle every point and let the chips fall where they may,” said Gunnis.

In the boys quarterfinal game on Tuesday, the fifth place Avonlea Eagles went into Cornerstone and beat the fourth place Falcons in three straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-18).

The semifinals on the girls side will have Caronport hosting Central and third place Vanier heads over to Peacock to face the second place Toilers on Thursday.  Both games get underway at 6:20 p.m.

On the boys side, the first place Cyclones will host Avonlea, while the second place Toilers host the third place Vikings.  Those games hit the court at 8 p.m.

The city finals will be held next Tuesday at Sask Polytech.