Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

The Chandler Prep Titans continue their playoff run into the semifinals after two three-set victories on Saturday, November 5th. In the morning, the Titans faced the Ganado Hornets who barely squeaked into playoffs after defeating the favored Gilbert Classical Spartans in a play-in game. No. 1 ranked Chandler Prep took care of business quickly against the Hornets, defeating them 25-7, 25-15, and 25-10. Senior Taylor Dedich contrasted this first match with the quarterfinals match against the Sedona Red Rock Scorpions:

“I would say our first one was more of a warm-up match and just getting comfortable playing in State, because it’s a lot more energy. The second match, we pulled it together and really focused on placement and making sure we were perfecting the little things.”

On Saturday evening, the Chandler Prep Titans faced the No. 8 ranked Sedona Red Rock Scorpions. In the first set, the Scorpions struggled to maintain the serve, with no player ever serving for more than two points. The Titans lost the serve several times as well, but relied on their hitters to score. Junior Zoe Yates played a fantastic game at the net, proving herself a threat to the Scorpions when she scored three consecutive kills, all from the left side. The Titans took set one 25-12.

Dedich led the team to victory in set two with five kills (three tips) and an ace for the Titans. Senior setter Alyssa Smith scored two aces and was the key assist to nearly every Titan kill. She faced a tough opponent in the Scorpion’s setter who returned an attempted setter’s dump with a successful dump in the final points of the set. Chandler Prep blocked very well against the Scorpion hitters, but Sedona Red Rock was able to keep several rallies going until they were able to get a kill through or force a Titan error. Ultimately, the Titans won set two 25-22.

The Chandler Prep Titans looked notably more composed in set three and were able to set the ball up nicely for their hitters, but the Scorpions, although appearing more scattered, relied on their libero and defensive specialist to keep the ball alive for long rallies. The score was tied six times in the set, but after the tie at 16-16, sophomore Juliet Mason went on a five-point service run and the Titans were able to take that lead to a 25-20 victory. Chandler Prep Head Coach Jones explained his plans to continue forward in State:

“We’ll take the day off tomorrow obviously–we’re going to relax and recover. Then, on Monday and Tuesday, we’ll take some time scouting whoever wins. Pima and Trivium are playing right now. We’re familiar with Trivium and we’ll see; if Pima pulls out the win, we’ll have to do a little bit more scouting. The plan is scouting, reps, and then we’ll see from there.”

The Chandler Prep Titans face the Trivium Prep Knights–a frequent rival–in the 2A State semifinals at 5;00pm on November 12th at Mountain Ridge High School. Titan Up.