Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

On Tuesday August 31st, the Chandler Prep Titans returned full force to the volleyball court for a three-set match against the Lincoln Lightning. The Titans nearly shut out the Lightning in the first set with a final score of 25-3 finishing the set with three consecutive aces from senior hitter Mia Evers. Chandler Prep then went on to win the next two sets 25-7. By far, the dominating factor of the Titans play was their performance at the serving line. Head Coach Jones had this to say about his team’s performance in that area:

“In order to be successful, we have to keep teams out of system. In order to keep teams out of system, we have to serve aggressively, so we preach serving aggressively all the time and the girls did a good job. With their seven errors, they had easily about 14 or 15 aces and we always look for the number to be doubled, so I’m very happy with how they served.”

Chandler Prep’s 17 total aces were led by senior setter Alyssa Smith with seven. Smith also had a six-point service run in set one, a total of 18 assists, and two successful setter dumps. In set two, Smith defensively anticipated a Lincoln setter’s dump and was able to get the dig and get in position to dump the ball right back for the point.

Returning to the court after a torn ACL and meniscus all last season was senior hitter Taylor Dedich. Despite missing her entire junior year season, Dedich played very well during Tuesday’s game. She had nine kills at the net including several unassisted blocks and, in game three, went on a ten-point service run with two aces. Dedich said this about being back on the court:

“It’s really exciting to be back! There’s not as much nerves going into this season – it’s just excitement to get to play with the team. Last year I just got to cheer them on, but now I get to actually be out there with them, encouraging them, correcting sometimes, but really just being able to be with the girls.”

After a game like this, the Titans are very excited to continue their season with a strong front line of hitters and team of successful servers. Chandler Prep plays their next game at home versus the Trivium Prep Knights on Thursday, September 2nd at 6:00pm. Titan Up.