Jacob Shannon is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Gilbert Classical Academy for AZPreps365.com.

In a surprise upset, Gilbert Classical Academy took down Arete Preparatory Academy, a team on a three-game winning streak, at home on Tuesday night 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-20). For the Spartans, this was a much-needed win, moving them to 6-7 on the season and 1-1 in region play. For the Chargers, this loss comes as a surprise and setback for the team, said head coach Arikah Kiyaani-McClary. 

“We performed under par,” said Kiyaani-McClary, “this might be one of the worst losses we’ve had this season. We felt like we were turning a curve for the better this past week so this (performance) was not what we were expecting today.”

The Spartans managed to control the pace of the game in part thanks to their on-court communication, led by senior captains Jillian Urrea and Mia Drake. 

“I feel that our communication is critical to keeping our energy high on the court,” said Drake. “Sometimes it’s helping a teammate see the court at a different angle or hyping each other up. As long as we stay talking, we stay moving, and we end up playing our best.” 

The Spartans were consistently vocal throughout the entire match, including a heads-up call from Drake to outside hitter Keely Sorenson, signaling for her to hit the pass across the court, which led to an easy kill for Sorenson. 

Another instrumental part of the Spartans’ success against the Chargers was their defensive play, a part of their game Spartans’ head coach Sierra Baker was eager to improve on heading into this match. 

“It was our weakest point last week,” said Baker, “so we worked a ton on that in practice, but today they were able to command the court on defense.”
Gilbert Classical Academy’s Rachel Stout blocks Arete Prep’s Kalen George. (Jacob Shannon/AZPreps 365) 

The Spartans were able to dominate at the net all night, thanks in part due to a standout performance from sophomore Winnie Modzelewski, who recorded 3 blocks and was frequently disrupting the Chargers at the net. 

“She loves to block!” Baker said through laughter. “She’s one of the younger players on the team and her effort on defense has been really helping out the team. Our middles aren’t always there fast enough, so for her to be able to jump in and help contribute immediately on defense is a huge factor for the team.” 

The Chargers were still able to find some ground throughout the match, including an eight-point run in the second set that gave them an 11-10 lead, but they were unable to sustain that momentum after an error ended their eight-point run. 

“(The errors) definitely interfered with our momentum,” said Kiyaani-McClary, “we weren’t able to really sustain any momentum from the get-go, so we knew we had to minimize the errors, but that’s not what happened tonight.” 

The Spartans are looking to keep the momentum of this big win going as they travel to Sequoia Pathway Academy to take on the 6-3 Pumas this Thursday. As for the Chargers, they face their toughest opponent yet this season, traveling to Chandler Prep to take on the 15-0 Titans. 

“This is probably one of our toughest matches,” said Kiyaani-McClary when asked about their next matchup, “but I know our girls are physically and mentally up for the task, we’ve just got to make some better choices coming into this game next week.”