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Catalina Foothills is on the verge of a three-peat.

The two-time defending state champion Falcons, winners of 17 straight, snared a berth in the Class 4A/5A-II volleyball semifinals with a three-game (25-20, 25-17, 25-19) sweep of visiting Sabino on Thursday.

That leaves them two wins away from a third straight title.

Despite the huge win streak, Foothills entered somewhat wary of Sabino. The Sabercats, relatively fresh off an upset sweep of then-No. 1 Sahuaro, were looking forward to a shot at another No. 1.

"We weren't scared, and that came out for a while," said Sabino coach Mike Honeycutt. "But you can't make any mistakes all game against a Foothills-type team."

Sabino took a 10-7 lead on a nicely placed kill from Spalding Rembert in Game 1.

That is when Foothills star outside hitter Garrett Voge took over up front. It became a theme.

"Sabino isn't the same team that we beat earlier," said Voge, referring to two victories over the Sabercats during tournaments. "We knew about them, and they were not easy to handle."

With the score knotted at 13, Voge started and ended a 4-0 Foothills run with two of his match-high 19 kills, as the Falcons rebounded to take Game 1.

CF dominated Game 2, but trailed 10-9 in the third game when Voge reeled off two more kills to give Foothills a lead it would not relinquish.

"This season is already going better than anyone expected," said Voge.

● Sahuaro 3, Rincon/University 0: At Sahuaro, the Cougars nearly doubled Rincon's kill total in a 25-19, 25-17, 25-22 state tournament quarterfinal win.

Sahuaro held Rincon's Brice Nzeukou, who had 13 kills in a first-round game against Santa Rita, to just seven on Thursday.

Most of his frustration came thanks to Colin Kennedy, who finished with 12 blocks.

"Our main priority in this game was to block him," Kennedy said. "We know he's their best hitter."

After winning five of six points to end the first game, Sahuaro opened up a 4-0 lead in the second — the first point coming on a diving save by junior Kyle Tatum.

"My adrenaline takes over, and I just dive for everything," Tatum said. "I love the intensity."

Tatum led the Cougars with 26 assists.

● Cienega 3, Glendale O'Connor 0: At Cienega, the Bobcats' first-round game plan remained the same in the quarterfinals: Get the ball to Andrew Christ.

Christ led the No. 4 Bobcats with 20 kills to advance to the semifinals with a 25-20, 32-30, 25-22 victory over No. 5 O'Connor.

"They're a pretty good team, but we all just played really good tonight," Christ said.

Kimo Rand's match-high 34 assists set the tone for the Bobcats' offensive attack.

"I think we played a lot better than we did on Tuesday and I'm really confident going into the semifinals," Rand said.

In the second game, Cienega had several chances to end the game but the Eagles played tough down the stretch before losing by two with Christ's attack providing the final point.