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

On Thursday, September 2nd, the Chandler Prep Titans played their second home game of the season against the Trivium Prep Knights, their opponent in the state semi-finals match last season. Last year, the Titans lost to the Knights during regular season in five sets before meeting them again for the semi-final match and winning in four. With both teams still poised as strong contenders for a championship despite losing last season’s seniors, Thursday’s game was well-matched and both sides of the net played with skill and intensity.

In set one, the Knights took an early 5-1 lead against the Titans, but after a six-point service run from senior Taylor Dedich, Chandler Prep took their first lead of the night at 13-11. The Knights took a momentary one-point lead with a vicious kill late in the set, but after a service error from Trivium Prep, the Titans won the first set 25-22. Senior Mia Evers led the team in kills with three and senior defensive specialist Alison Mingus did a great job keeping the ball alive in the back court.

The Knights fought back in set two, playing out the win-by-two to take the second set 26-24. Stepping up their serving game, Trivium Prep had six aces, which allowed them a defensive cushion against the Titans’ 14 kills, including several aggressive blocks. Senior Mia Evers commented after the game on the team’s mindset after this second set:

“Going into the third set, we knew we had to execute and focus on the little things. Overall, I feel that coming in, we were kind of the underdogs so it feels good to be able to win in four.”

Set three was an epic battle. The Knights led early 3-10, but the Titans did not give in and fought hard offensively to stay close. The Titans took their first lead at 23-22 with senior setter Alyssa Smith at the serving line. Stepping into a different role, as a hitter, Mingus killed for the final two points and totaled six kills for the set. The Titans won set three 28-26.

The Titans again trailed early in the final set, but ultimately won 25-21. Junior hitter Zoe Yates led the team in kills with six and Sophomore libero Juliet Mason caused a problem for the Knights offensive hits with several digs. Senior captain and setter for the Titans was a leader in Tuesday’s match and had a total of over 35 assists. Head Coach Jones is very optimistic about the season going forward and spoke very highly of his players. He responded to the win with this:

“I feel good. It was a good statement win by the girls. They deserved it. It was definitely a defining win in the season so far. It is early and we don’t want to focus too much on it, but it is a big win. Trivium is, by far, one of the best teams in the state, so we’re happy to have proved we can be contenders now.”

The Chandler Prep Titans play their next game away at Miami High School on September 7th at 6:00pm. Titan Up.