TEMPE- In a 5A Northeast valley region match Thursday, McClintock High School lost to the Paradise Valley Trojans in five sets. The Trojans won the first two sets—25-23, 26-24— and the Chargers the next two sets—25-19, 25-18. Paradise Valley would seal the deal in the final set, 15-11. The Chargers entered their home gym looking to bounce back after being swept Tuesday night at Arcadia.

In the first set the Chargers were haunted by bad serves,  but in the second set Moreno would end with seven kills. She'd have have help from teammate Lucilia Wood, who would have four kills.

The first two sets didn’t go the Chargers' way; they struggled to close the sets. Things took a turn of direction in sets three and four. McClintock, behind Moreno's and Kealiinohomoku-Laikona's 15 kills, won both of those.

The crowd was electric for the Chargers. Key factors: they were at home for the first time since before fall break. “We came in more focused, we came in with a goal to improve we were really really excited for this game," said assistant coach Chris Thomas. "Obviously, you play better when you're at home, especially when they play in front of their families.”

Set five was the deciding factor for both teams. The set started off by a dig by Paradise Valley, which set up the Trojans' Annie Maschue for a kill. The set was neck-and-neck, 7-7, but the Trojans started to slowly started to separate themselves and run away with the lead. Charger junior Sophia Franz made a diving attempt at the very end to keep the host squad in the game but it wasn’t enough. The fifth set, and thus the match, went to Paradise Valley. 

Though disappointed, McClintock's athletes saw reasons to be heartened by their performance. “I felt good, especially that we were able to take it to five sets," said senior outside hitter Jaylah Moreno. "I felt like we all put up a pretty good fight, I felt like we stuck with it the whole way.” 

“We played a lot better and pushed a lot harder, ” added fellow senior Jade Kealiinohomoku-Laikona, who is head coach Jacob Laikona's daughter.

Kealiinohomoku-Laikonais was a key player to keep the Chargers alive and push for five sets. “A lot of pressure from coaches and my dad," the senior noted. "And he said to be more accountable on myself and just to play my hardest."

With no time to waste, McClintock is now shifting their focus to next Tuesday's match at Horizon High School.

“There’s nothing major we need to change," said Moreno. "Just small things, making sure we are getting in the right spots and more communication as well as listening to each other."