Canyon Proves Better Than Scots Thought : Girls’ volleyball: Scouting report turns out flawed as Cowboys sink Rim of the World.

What you see isn’t always what you get.

Rim of the World High girls’ volleyball Coach Eric Motch scouted Canyon last week in its first-round playoff match against Nogales.

“They didn’t look this tough,” he said after the Cowboys defeated the Fighting Scots, 17-15, 17-19, 15-2, 15-12 on Tuesday in a Southern Section Division III quarterfinal.

In this case, preparation proved deceiving.

“I was kind of hoping they scouted that match,” Canyon Coach Ray Sanchez said. “We were so flat and played so badly.”

Score one for Jekyll and Hyde. Canyon (16-1) advanced to the semifinal round for the first time since 1986, and will play Claremont on Thursday.

The loss was the first of the season for Rim of the World (18-1).

“Before the match, I said, ‘Okay, this team is undefeated, but that means they haven’t had their wake-up call,’ ” Canyon setter Heather Pilatic said.

Brrrrrinnng!

Rim of the World was rudely awakened in the first game, when the Cowboys scored seven straight points to take an 11-6 lead, which they stretched to 14-9.

But two Canyon mistakes--a rotation violation and serving out of order--helped the Fighting Scots tie the match, 14-14.

“That was a real disappointment,” said Pilatic, who was called for the rotation violation. “I still don’t think that was the right call. I’m going to go home and look it up.”

But the Cowboys held on to win the game thanks to a key block by Andrea Koman and a kill by Lindy Sweetnam.

Rim of the World fought off deficits of 15-14 and 17-16 to take Game 2, but the third game was a Cowboy romp.

Canyon took a 10-4 lead in the final game and held on for the victory that Sanchez and his players agreed was their most well-played match of the season.

“I’ve never, ever seen the team play that well,” Sanchez said.

Darcy Frandsen led Canyon with a match-high 21 kills. “In crunch time, you know she’ll keep the ball in the court and put it down for the kill,” Sanchez said.

And in crunch time Tuesday, the rest of the Cowboys did not lost their concentration.

“Maybe it came down to who had more heart, who wanted it more,” Pilatic said.