The St. Mary’s Knights carried momentum they picked up from a thrilling game on Tuesday to their match against the Shadow Mountain Matadors on Thursday. The Knights completed a clean sweep against the Matadors thanks to tough defense and strong offense.

After a win against region competitors Greenway on Tuesday, the Knights were fired up and ready to face the Matadors. They faced Shadow Mountain for the second and final time this season and defeated them in three straight sets by the scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-19.

“With that win against Greenway, we changed our mindset from preparing and hoping that we could beat a team like them to actually beating them,” head coach September Lopez said. “Now we can focus on finishing the season strong. Our job is to take it game by game.”

The match between the teams started off close with both teams playing high-level volleyball.

The Knights began to get blocks up, and the Shadow Mountain hitters couldn’t seem to find the court. Hits were blocked or touched by the blockers and slowed down, which allowed for the defense to get an easier pass.

Lopez decided to move freshman outside hitter Kadyn Dahlke to the opposite hitter position for Thursday’s game, allowing the 6-foot freshman to get her hands up against Shadow Mountain's hardest hitters.

“Coach decided to move her to the right side in a position she doesn’t normally play,” sophomore setter and defensive specialist Spirit Phipps said. “It made a bigger block on that side.”

The Knights' tough defense and strong hitting frustrated the Matadors in the second set. Shadow Mountain made mental errors andstarted hitting the ball out or into the net. They missed serves, soft roll shots and free balls.

The Knights had no problem finding the court as they managed to get the Matadors out of position and distract their blockers.

“Our game plan for our hitters was execution,” said Lopez. “We wanted to make sure our passes are where we can run all three of our hitters. We have some of the strongest hitters in the region; we have to utilize all of them. Our game plan for defense was to get a touch on every ball.”

The top hitter for the Knights was their senior outside hitter and middle blocker, Karla Ramirez. Ramirez recorded 14 kills and had a .382 hitting percentage.

After a tough first and second set, the Matadors continued their fight in the third and challenged St. Mary’s to earn every single point.

“It was a very scrappy game,” said Dahlke. “We need to clean some things up, but no matter what we continued talking.”

The Knights are 21-5 overall, including 5-1 in their region. They are ranked 10th in their conference and second in their region.

“We are one win away from a guaranteed spot in the playoffs,” Lopez said. “It’s exciting.”

The Knights' next game is Monday, and they will be facing off against the Moon Valley Rockets in St. Mary’s gym at 6 p.m.