After a series of errors in the second set and an impending wave of Perry's best volleyball of the night, Basha settled in and showed it was the better team Thursday night.

No. 5 Basha took sets three and four handily and earned a berth in the Division I volleyball semifinals for the first time in school history with a 25-18, 21-25, 25-16, 25-17 win over No. 4 Perry at Perry High.

Basha (28-13) takes on No. 1 Desert Vista (39-3) on Saturday at 6 p.m. in one of the D-I semis at Mesquite High. No. 3 Xavier takes on No. 2 Hamilton in the other semif at 4 p.m. at Mesquie. Perry (26-12), which advanced to the playoff for the first time last year, has been quite successful the past two years. 

"We made a lot of errors in the second set," Basha coach Terri Spann said. "We didn't play well that set. We were trying to make adjustments to their block. We got going again the next two sets. I was really proud of (middle) Alexa Johnson. I got on her to get going. She had the drive you want the last two sets."

Johnson finished with 17 kills, a nice complement to team kills leader Justine Spann. Justine Spann had her usual high kill total -- a game high 25.

Basha controlled the first set throughout, but a rash of attack errors midway through the second helped Perry rally for the lead. With the set tied at 15 Perry went on a 6-1 run with Taylor Knoll (team-high 11 kills) keying the run with back-to-back kills. The Pumas took the set and seemed poised to at least take the match the distance.

But Basha took command quickly in he third set and won handily. In the fourth it was tied at 14. A 5-0 run  that Perry helped along with two hitting errors and a double hit gave Basha the momentum to close out the match. Johnson collected two kills down the stretch, Yasamin Motlagh and Allie Hancock added one each as the Bears finished with authority.

"We didn't do a good job on serve-receiive," Perry coach Fred Mann, who has led the Pumas to playoff berths each of his two years. "They passed well and those things were the difference."

Mann didn't cling to the consolation prize of two playoff appearances in two years and the school's first postseason win this year on Tuesday -- an extra step for the program.

"We expect to win matches like this," Mann said. "It's disapponting for us."

Knoll, a junior, added 15 digs and two aces to her 11 kills.. Senior Maddie LeBlance had nine kills and two aces in her final match for the Pumas.