Gabriella Malamed is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Central High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX— Both Central High School and Carl Hayden Community High School entered Wednesday night’s girls volleyball match winless. Led by seniors Kayla Bedonie and Paola Fonseca at their home gym, the Bobcats ended their search for that elusive first victory.

“It feels pretty good to finally go to school tomorrow and say that we won,” Bedonie said.

In the four-set match, neither team seized control of the match for long. Central won the first set, 25-15. An early stalemate ended when Central junior Janiah Gary stepped into the server's spot and led the Bobcats on a nine-point run. Bedonie had four assists and Fonseca four kills in the opening set.

In the second set, Carl Hayden battled but a pair of six-point runs from Central pushed them to victory again, 25-20. This was a seemingly slower set offensively as there were nearly only half as many hits as the first set.

The Falcons eked out a 26-24 win in the third set, as the Bobcats struggled. Inconsistency of serving, passing, and hitting played part in Central's failure to record a three-set shutout. “I remind (the team) of the basics,” Bedonie said. “As soon as we get that down, we keep it rolling.”

What Central did keep rolling in the third set though, and throughout the whole match, through the highs and lows, the ups and downs, no matter how bad morale might have gotten— was its energy.

“It’s just the drive, I want to win,” Fonseca said. “Everytime I feel down I remember why I started playing and why I’m here and it just boosts me.”

From the moment the game started, every player on and off the court was cheering and clapping. The team huddled after every set and chanted together, lightening any tense moments that occurred. Fonseca never stopped smiling, Bedonie jumped higher and higher with every ace she served (she'd finish with a match-high eight), junior Priscilla Monjolo jumped up with every point. The bench never let a good or bad play go by without yelling a chant and getting the crowd involved.

“Our bench really did a good job of keeping everyone who was on the court up and excited,” assistant coach Paiton Twitty said. 

In the fourth set, the Bobcats maintained fire and spirit they had showed all night and clinched the match with a 25-12 win to seal the match.

Bedonie, Fonseca, Twitty, and head coach Laura Phillips all expressed the main thing they were most proud of and wanted to carry over was the team's energy from the game. 

“When we have our energy, we all boost each other," said Fonseca, who led the Bobcats with 10 kills. "We feel ourselves and that's when we all show out."

Central's freshman and JV teams won their respective games as well, both in two sets.

Central High School’s next volleyball game will be at home next week on Tuesday, September 28 versus Sierra Linda High School at 6  p.m.