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

LAVEEN— The weather outside may be cooling down but the Central High School girls volleyball team is starting to heat up. Heading into fall break the Bobcats beat Betty H. Fairfax High School on Wednesday for their third straight win.

"This past week we just got it together and it kind of just clicked," coach Laura Phillips said. "We've really started working well together." 

About 17 miles away from their home court, the Bobcats registered a four-set victory against the Stampede (1-7) to earn their first road win of the season. 

Central won the first set, 25-22. The game consisted of lots of back-and-forth play as neither side ever led by more than five points. Up 24-22, junior Priscilla Monjolo sealed the win for the Bobcats with a hit and kill assisted by senior setter Kayla Bedonie. Monjolo would finish this set with four kills, and Bedonie with seven assists.

The Bobcats celebrate after scoring a point (Gabriella Malamed / AZpreps365)Central couldn’t get it done in the second set though as they fell to Fairfax 23-25, the closest set of the match. Even with multiple five-point runs, errors with hitting, passing and serving were at all-time highs during this game. 

“We choked,” Monjolo said. “We had to get back together, shake off all the errors and just come back stronger.” 

The Bobcats rallied back in the third set to win 25-19 with a game-ending ace from Bedonie. “Toward the end of the set I just had trust,” Bedonie said. “I was thinking about the drills I do over and over.”

The senior setter finished the fourth and final set serving as well with a final score of 25-20.

After Wednesday's game the Bobcats are currently in first place in their region (3-1) as they’ve played everyone but Camelback High School (1-1, 1-7). The girls will retain that title for almost two weeks without threat as all Phoenix Union schools have fall recess from October 4-8. No games will be played that week.

Coach Phillips said she’ll host non-mandatory practices over this break and believes most of her team will attend. “We won’t be practicing everyday so I hope we don’t fall into a pit,” she said. “But I think we all need a little break and that's healthy.”

The Frosh and JV teams cheering on varsity (Gabriella Malamed / AZpreps365)

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

The Bobcats’ next game is against the Camelback Spartans on October 13, 2021.

“We know what to expect from our region,” Bedonie said. “And we also know what to expect from ourselves— so if we follow through we should be good.”