Shea Garrett is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Marcos de Niza High School for AZPreps365.com.

CHANDLER-- Exactly one week since dismissing coach Kerry Morgan, Marcos de Niza High School’s volleyball team was swept at Seton Catholic Prep on Tuesday night. 

The set scores were 23-9, 25-10, 25-19. The Sentinels are ranked number one in the 4A Desert Sky alignment, the same division as the Padres. 

MdN is still adapting to its new head coach, Zach Underwood, who until last week was coaching the school's freshman squad. Underwood's presence has appeared to soothe the Padre athletes. “It has affected my playing in a very positive way,” said senior Champlevey Carr. “A lot more positive than it was before.” 

Before the match, the Padres' enthusiasm seemed infectious. The aspect of “having fun” while playing may have seemed alien to them before.

The Sentinels started off strong in the first set, scoring five points within the first minutes of the game. The Padres struggled with the Sentinels' potent spikes and bumps. The home team never trailed in the set. The closest score was 14-5, MdN fighting for each of its points. Carr battled with the hard hits, bumping it out of bounds more times than not. These plays continued for the Padres, resulting in a Sentinel win 25-9. Champlevey Carr sets the ball to one of her teammates (Shea Garrett/AZPreps365)

The second set was almost identical to the first with multiple moves not staying in bounds. Carr began to adjust to the hard hits by using more bend in the sets, but this only lasted for a few moments of the game. The Sentinels were powerful with their serves, making it that much harder for the Padres to keep the ball in motion. 

“We need to take more with our hands and get more control,” Underwood said. “They (the Sentinels) have a really good deep float serve which is really aggressive. We needed to find the best way to combat that.”

With the score 12-3, Underwood called a timeout to make modifications to the team’s serve receive in hopes of having quicker scoring. The changes discussed were not made quickly enough for this set, as the Padres fell 25-10.

Only in the third and final set did the Padres make suitable adjustments. The team needed to adapt to the challenge, much like the one they are facing with a new head coach. 

The Padres kept the ball in bounds, created quick plays, began communicating more, and kept up the positive energy by encouraging each other. 

The Padres put up a fight in this game. At one point the score was even tied, 16-16, and then  17-17. The final points scored came down to which team was playing stronger, the Sentinels taking their lead due to repeated mistakes made by the Padres. MdN fell back into its old patterns with serves not making it over the net and bumps allowing the ball to make its way out of bounds. The Sentinels took the game and the match win, the set result being 21-18.

The Padres may not have won the match, but the team was enjoying themselves while they played and while they improved within the sets. This was something stressed by Underwood. “The biggest thing you can do as a coach is keep a positive face,” said Underwood. “As soon  as coaches get negative it brings down the morale.” 

The positivity is expected to continue as Padres face Saguaro High School on Wednesday in their last match of the year, and their third match with coach Underwood.