The top seeds in this year's Division I state boys volleyball tournament - No. 1 Desert Visa and No. 2 Boulder Creek -- had their way in the first three sets of their semifinal matches Thursday at Mesquite High School.

Boulder Creek survived a late surge in the third set from Desert Ridge and swept the Jaguars. Desert Vista was not as fortunate as its third set wound to a close.

No. 4 Perry built up a head of steam called momentum late in the third set, rallying from down 17-8  to win. The Pumas took the fourth and then steamrolled the stunned Thunder in the decisive fifth set to reach Saturday's 6:30 p.m. final vs. Boulder Creek at Mesquite HS. It wil be Perry's first trip to a boys volleyball final. Boulder Creek will be making its fourth. The Jaguars won D-I in 2014, were runners-up in D-I in 2008 and runners-up in D-II in 2007.

Boulder Creek defeated No. 3 Desert Ridge 25-13, 25-14, 25-23. Perry eliminated Desert Vista by scores of 19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 15-5.

Perry coach Brian Pomerantz didn't count his team out, even though advancement seemed bleak down 2-0 and down ninepoints nearly  three-fourths of the way to the finish in the third set.

"Not to sound cocky, but I believe if we are playing our game we have a chance," Pomerantz said. "We over-prepared for this. What we planned wasn't working so when we called timeout (their second of the third set trailing 11-6) we scrapped the plan. I told them to go out and play the game we played all year."

After one more little rough patch that saw their deficit grow to nine points, Perry kicked into gear. Led by senior outside hitter Ethan Fillmore's ferocious play, the Pumas caught Desert Vista at 23. A Fillmore kill and a Desert Vista hitting error provided the 25-23 win and life to the next two sets.

Fillmore, who collected 23 kills to lead the Pumas, could sense his teammates  had the upper hand by the time the fourth set was underway.

"We didn't want to go out that way (sweep)," Fillmore said. "We started running some crazy stuff and got back in it.  At the end of the fourth set and then going to the last I knew we had it. They were struggling."

Desert Vista rather easily claimed the first two sets with senior opposite Travis Seideman leveling some face-crunching kills to lead the way. Seideman delivered a nasty serve now and then, too. Seideman had 12 kills unofficially in the first three sets and four aces for the match

Perry didn't play catch-up in the fourth set, staying even or better throughout. A Reid Wagner kill and subsequent ace put Perry ahead to stay, 17-16, in the fourth set, Fillmore chipped in three kills the rest of the set to get the win and a fifth set.

Desert Vista trailed 6-2 quicky in the final set as their hitting took a nose dive. Fillmore had two kills and an ace in the final set, but the Thunder basically self-destructed at crunch time.

"I think what helped us was team chemistry," Pomerantz said. "We have three sets of brothers on the team, and they're all committed. Some experienced sophomores. We managed to put it together at the end."

Reid Wagner and Collin Hoag complemented Fillmore's kiils with nine and eight, respectively. Jeff Tomlnison and Garrett Wagner had three blocks each and Jason Tomlinson came up with 24 digs for the Pumas.

Boulder Creek, which has only one loss this season to an Arizona school  (Desert Vista in early April) and two overall, played well in the first two sets of its win over No. 3 Desert Ridge. The Jaguars didn't have to be at their peak as Desert Ridge could do little right in the first two sets.

Desert Ridge started to play the way it was capable of in the third set. Something Boulder Creek coach Troy Dueling told his team was bound to happen.

"I think we caught them off guard early," Dueling said. "I kept telling our guys they're going to get tougher every set. We got a little hesitant in the third set, and they started to hit their stride. It was nice to close it out in the third set."

Boulder Creek was led by senior outside hitter Liam Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz missed about three weeks of time in April due to injury and was not in the lineup when the Jaguars lost the power-ranking match to Desert Vista that essentially cost them the No. 1 seed.

Santa Cruz is healthy now and played like it. Santa Cruz had 18 kills while teammates Patrick Ross and Bryce Whitman added nine kills apiece. Desert Ridge was led by Tanner Bowman with 10 kills and Luke Denton with six.

"He's on a mission," Dueling said of Santa Cruz. He's ready for the moment"

That moment is against Perry on Saturday night. The teams met in the first inviational of the season -- Chandler High's Wolf Howl. Boulder Creek won that match 2-0. It was the title game of the Wolf Howl. This one means just a bit more.