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

PHOENIX— The Central High School girls volleyball team is back-to-back-to-back in business. The Bobcats’ beat Betty H. Fairfax in four close sets on Wednesday night to clinch their third win in a row. 

Just last week, Central only had seven girls eligible to play in its lineup because of Arizona’s academic “no pass, no play rule." This week, only one girl was ineligible. Back for her second game since being absent for nearly two weeks was senior setter Kayla Bedonie. “I’d say that break really affected me,” Bedonie said. “This was a close game and I felt more pressured than before.”

The last time Central and Fairfax met was on September 29, when the Bobcats beat the Stampede in four sets to start a three-game win streak. This match was hardly any different. 

“It was very intense,” junior Priscilla Monjolo said. “We’d get quiet and we’d get stuck but we kept going and fought for it.” The final set scores for the match were 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, and 26-24.

The Bobcats’ bench anxiously cheer on their teammates (Gabriella Malamed / AZpreps365)The first set was the strongest offensively for the Bobcats as they won 25-22. The team combined for 11 hits, six kills, and six aces. A hit and kill from sophomore Abigail Hernandez-Valenzuela, assisted by Bedonie, sealed the win. Hernandez-Valenzuela would finish the night with 14 hits and three kills, with Bedonie racking up 17 assists. “I’m usually looking to Abby as my go-to hitter,” Bedonie said. “We’ve had time together and we have good chemistry.”

The second set was less fortunate for the Bobcats as they fell 25-19 to the Stampede. Hernandez-Valenzuela served for six straight points to go up 9-7 but Fairfax answered shortly after with an 8-point run of its own to go up 17-11. Central was unable to fully recover from this deficit.

“They got us on a lot of tips that game,” Monjolo said. “We didn't help cover each other very well.”

Both squads fought viciously in the third and fourth sets. Central bounced back well from the second-set loss to win the third, 25-23. The Bobcats jumped out 4-0 but Fairfax was quick to respond and would end up taking and maintaining a lead until the score stood 16-13. The Bobcats then rallied back and when they re-took the lead did not let up. “For some odd reason my players respond to scoldings well,” coach Laura Phillips said. “So when I get on them and tell them to get back in it— they do it.”

The fourth and final set began with the first three Bobcat servers all missing their serves. The whole game was points-earned being continuously answered. The final four plays of the match were all 25 seconds or more as both teams were jumping, flying and diving for every ball. Up 25-24, a miss-hit by Fairfax sealed the win for Central, 26-24.

 

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This win against the Stampede (3-4) improved the Bobcats’ record to 6-2. Central now sits second in the 5A Metro region, just behind Metro Tech (7-1). Though this win sets the Bobcats up fairly well for the rest of the season, it was their loss to Camelback (3-5) that set them back in the first place. 

Only two matches remain in region play and both are to be played against the two teams that handed Central its losses: Metro Tech and Camelback. It’s crucial for the Bobcats to win these games if they want to be on top. “It’s just a mental game at this point,” Phillips said. “The girls have been hyping this up for a long time.”

The Bobcats’ next game will be at 6PM on Monday, October 25, at Camelback High School.

“I was out the last time we played (Camelback) and had to watch from the sideline,” Bedonie said. “I’m out for blood.”