By Walter Villa

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Green Valley (Henderson, Nev.) exceeded expectations on Friday, showing that Las Vegas-area teams can compete with some of the nation’s elite.

Green Valley, seeded 32nd in this weekend’s 48-team Durango Fall Classic, stunned the tournament’s top overall seed, Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.) with a 25-23 first-set win. Marymount went on to win the next two sets, 25-19, 25-15.

Because Green Valley finished second to Marymount in its pool, the Gators qualified for a play-in game and the chance to qualify for Saturday’s Sweet 16 round.

Green Valley got another tough draw: La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.), which finished in second place at Durango last year.

Green Valley again gave the favorites a jolt, beating La Costa Canyon, 25-21 in the first set before losing 25-11, 25-11.

“It was a great night for Green Valley and a great night for Las Vegas volleyball,” Gators coach Erin Hill said, alluding to the fact that Vegas teams have never won Durango and have lately not even been very competitive. “I’m thrilled with how we played. We’re young, but we showed up.”

Hill, who was there when Green Valley opened in 1991, is the only coach in school history. She welcomed 140 girls to her very first practice and worked some minor miracles early, winning state titles in 1993, ’95, ’96 and ’01.

No other Vegas-area team has won more Class 4A state titles in girls volleyball. But since the Gators’ golden start, four new schools have opened that have taken enrollment away from Green Valley.

“We have good players in Las Vegas – girls who have gone on to compete at the Division I level,” Hill said. “They just don’t all play for the same high school.”

Still, the Gators have remained a force. Last year, they finished 29-9 and lost in the state final for the second year in a row. The Gators graduated five players from that team.

This season’s team returns four starters: 5-9 junior setter Jenna Swaffer, 5-11 junior outside hitter Carly Schiess, 5-10 sophomore outside hitter Nikki Drost and 5-4 senior libero Alexa Drost.

They also have right-side hitter Sommer King, a 5-9 junior who has emerged this season as an underrated force, and 6-0 junior middle hitter Julie Dramise, who came up big on Friday.

Tournament is on the rise

The Durango Fall Classic started with 16 teams in 1995, quickly grew to 32 schools and now sits at 48.

Bob Kelly, who created the tournament and still runs it, said he is most proud of two things connected with his event: the geographical diversity of the teams and the element of surprise.

The diversity is evident when you see that there are teams from 10 states -- including Alaska and Hawaii -- and Canada.

As for the surprise factor, Kelly said every year seems to produce an unranked team that emerges in Las Vegas. Last year, it was Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), which shocked many experts by winning the tournament.

Two years ago, it was Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.), which finished second. They were unranked before the tournament started but finished the year No. 15.

“My gut feeling is that there will be a team from California that surprises again this year,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of outstanding teams out there.”

A hungry player

Senior outside hitter Misty Ma’a of Kamehameha (Honolulu, Hawaii) is making her fourth straight trip to Vegas, and she has found her favorite place to eat. “The buffet at the Rio Hotel,” she said. “It’s the highlight of my life -- the best food I have ever seen. We starve ourselves for months so we can eat there.”