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

On Tuesday September 14th, the undefeated Chandler Prep Titans went on the road to visit the 3A Arizona College Prep Knights. After a close, first-set loss, the Titans went on to win the next three sets fairly convincingly to claim the victory.

The Chandler Prep varsity volleyball team has yet to go to a fifth set in any match. In fact, in regular season play, the Titans have only lost three sets and won 24. After Monday’s four-set win against 2A Valley region competitor, Rancho Solano Prep, and Tuesday’s four-set win against the 3A Knights, it is clear that Chandler Prep will be huge contenders in the 2A state tournament.

In the first set, the Titans struggled to find a serving rhythm with no aces and four errors. The Knights took advantage of this and responded offensively with 13 kills in just the first set as well as serving two aces. Even so, Chandler Prep kept the score difference within two points, a few times pulling ahead, until the Knights took a brief three-point lead at 23-20. The final score of the first set was 23-25. Head Coach Jones talked about the team’s response to this first-set loss:

“We just made an adjustment by telling them to serve a little shorter, just to make sure they got it in. It’s all about confidence when serving, so once they got a few good serves in, they could start to serve a little bit more aggressively. So, yes, the first set was a little rough for serving, but we made our adjustments and they did well after that.”

Junior Zoe Yates propelled the Titans to a 25-18 victory in set two. She led the team in kills with five, she went on a six-point service run to retake the lead mid-set, and she had several key digs on the long rally for point ten. Yates also led the team in kills with five in set three.

The Titans got back into a serving rhythm in set three with seniors Alison Mingus and Dedich at the line. Mingus served first and went on a nine-point service run with two aces and no errors. After a service error from the Knights, Dedich went on a six-point service run with one ace, leading the Titans to a 15-point lead, the largest lead of the night by either team.

Arizona College Prep went on a seven-point service run with two aces to try to catch the Titans, but the lead was insurmountable and the Titans won set three 25-15. Chandler Prep went on to win set four, almost leading wire-to-wire, and wrapping up the match with a 25-19 final set. Yates said a few words on the value of playing a tougher-level team and what it means to the Titans to be able to win:

“It definitely boosts your confidence and it’s more fun then playing a normal team. We get to practice blocking, harder serves, and things like that.”

The Titans play their next game away versus the Arizona Lutheran Coyotes on September 16th at 6:00pm. Titan Up.