Kambell Schmidt is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Horizon Honors High School for AZPreps365.com.

CHANDLER--- Horizon Honors put up a good fight Tuesday night, but were able to wrest just one of the four sets played against Chandler Prep. The Titans prevailed 25-11, 25-12, 22-25, 25-19 in a spirited match.

Fans of both squads seemed to be intriguely interested as chants and stomps from the stands echoed across the gym in anticipation of the first serve.

"Let's go Eagles!" chants could be heard from across the campus, making the red and black colors engulfing Chandler Prep's venue seem to be momentarily out of place. These chants, though, were immediately answered with junior Zoe Yates's three points, giving Chandler Prep a 3-0 lead in the first set.

The Titans wasted no time gaining an advantage on the Eagles as they secured the first set 25-11 within 20 minutes.

A plethora of errors and mishaps plagued Horizon Honors in the second set. Multiple serves failed to make it over the net. Balls were passed behind players. The Titans pounced on thes mistakes, handily winnng the second set 25-12.

The third set was the closest of the match. Both teams were neck and neck throughout the set until Chandler Prep's continuous failed serves gave Horizon Honors the advantage. The Eagles would edge Chandler Prep 25-22 to force a fourth set

Junior Aubrey Harbertson gets ready to serve. (Kambell Schmidt photo/AZPreps365)

The fourth set was also a close one, but a slew of Horizon Honors errors were simply too costly versus the top-ranked school in the state.

Junior Jade Collins was the top performer for the Eagles, contributing nine kills and 20 attacks.

Although Horizon Honors did not prevail this match, coach Kristoffer Maglunog is still proud of his team for competing so ably against a top-ranked team.

"There hasn’t been a lot of things going our way so far, but we gave it a really good fight,” said Maglunog.

 

Coach Maglunog hopes to work with his team on passing before Horizon Honors' next match. That will take place at the "Spiketown" Invitational Tournament this Friday at American Leadership Academy in Gilbert.

"We have 12 aces but we still had trouble passing and that has been our struggle all year," said Maglunog.