Kianna Patterson is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Valley Christian Schools for AZPreps365.com.

3A Metro rivals the Valley Christian Trojans (8-1) and the Benjamin Franklin Chargers (5-5) faced off Tuesday night in a girls volleyball match up at Valley Christian’s Bradley Gymnasium. The Trojans defeated the Chargers in three straight sets (25-13, 25-9, 25-9).

On top of singing the national anthem, everyone in attendance observed Trojans outside hitter Cara Braun receive recognition for reaching 1,000 career kills in a Trojans sweep over Coolidge last week. Braun, who received the game ball from the Coolidge game as a gift, is one of three student-athletes in Valley Christian history to reach that milestone. Getting the win was all the Trojans were focused on and it showed.

“We have a great group of girls this year and we are grateful to be in the position we are in," Trojans coach Lindy Dyer said. “We are poised to have gone against a team like Benjamin Franklin."

The Trojans came out strong and performed well for the huge crowd cheering them on. Cara Braun and middle blocker Kate Phillps led the Trojans with 23 kills.

In the first set of the match, the Trojans were on fire with a 9-1 lead, and Benjamin Franklin did not call a timeout after the Trojans run. The Chargers were able to get a few points resulting from the Trojans serving the ball into the net.

The team's dominance did not stop in the second set. Opposite hitter Madison Brown-McAlpine led the team in assists. Brown-McAlpine had 10 assists in the second set. While setter/libero Kylie Wong had 2 aces that helped seal the Trojans second set win of 25-9.

The team played great against the Chargers there was no sign of panic or conceitedness. Cheering for one another anytime they scored a point. The crowd started going crazy and kept score of how many kills Braun would get that night. The Trojans played with passion, poise and grit.

“I respect every opponent that we play,” Braun said. “Volleyball is a fun game that we get to play and we get to glorify God through it.”

At the beginning of the third set, the Trojans had a few failed serves in the beginning which allowed the Chargers to put points on to the board, but after taking a timeout the Trojans responded with three aces from Phillips. To seal the win, Braun and opposite hitter Rebecca Pomerenke blocked the Chargers from advancing the ball over to the Trojans side and that called the game with the Trojans winning that set. This led the Trojans to become 8-1.

“It feels great to be 8-1, I’m only a freshman. It feels great to assist my team in winning,” Brown-McAlpine said. “It feels good to help the hitters get a kill. I look forward to us winning against the American Leadership Academy.”

The Trojans will be taking on American Leadership Academy (6-2) on Sept. 30. The Trojans are looking to expand their record to 9-1. Dyer and her lady Trojans will travel away to play at American Leadership Academy. The train to the playoffs continues for the Trojans.