PHOENIX — The Chaparral High School Firebirds stopped their brief losing streak and handed Arcadia its first loss of the season, defeating the Titans 3-1 on Wednesday night at Arcadia High School.

The Firebirds showed great resilience in the first set, coming from down 11-7 at one point, they rallied with small two-point runs that would eventually tie the match at 22 before a final three-point burst took the first set. The second set showed the dominance of their passing as they came out firing, winning the second set 25-16.

Avoiding a clean sweep, the Titans started the back-and-forth third set with a 10-8 lead before they went on a 7-0 run. They would hold on to take the set 25-18.

The fourth set was another testament to both teams as in the final minutes of the match the score was 22-22, then the Firebirds would go on to score two more points making the game 24-22. With a fighting effort, the Titans came up short in a 25-23 loss in the set that which gave the match win to Chaparral.
 
Despite the loss, Arcadia senior Ally Bolden contributed in countless ways, coming up with six blocks and six kills for her team as well as making other saving plays that helped keep Arcadia in the game. Jackie Bunker, head coach for the Titans, sees really good upside as they get to play in a tournament on Saturday.

“Tournaments are nice because they give us an opportunity to play and try different things you normally wouldn’t in a regular game," Bunker said.

Bunker’s key takeaways from the loss were, not passing as well as they would have liked too, missing serves, and overall fundamentals that the team could control were the reasons for the loss. 

As for the Firebirds, junior Allyson Coleman played great as well, totaling three kills and four blocks which was enough to secure the win. In addition to her own contributions, the Firebirds had great team effort all around executing passes to one another.

“I feel like the distribution from our centers is starting to get to where it needs to be,” Chaparral head coach Chad Speers said on what he thought were the key turning points for his team. As the Firebirds look to continue winning, Coach Speers says “We just gotta fight every game and grind.” 

Arcadia (2-1) will look to bounce back, both at the Ceil Billing Tournament this weekend at Greenway High School and in road matches at Glendale and Casteel High School next week. For Chaparral (2-2), they will face Desert Mountain tonight before traveling to Red Mountain High School next week.