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

On Friday, November 12th, the Chandler Prep Titans once again faced the Trivium Prep Knights in an epic rivalry matchup. The crowd was deafening. Trivium families were scattered throughout the stands, but a 45-Titan-strong student section brought the roof down cheering for the champions. It was a hard-fought match, going point for point and set for set, until the end. The still undefeated Chandler Prep Titans won the 2A State Semifinals match in five sets, eliminating the Knights and moving on to compete in the 2A State Championship.

The Knights took the Titans by surprise in the first set, taking a 6-0 lead to start the night. But after several attack errors and a six-point service run by junior Zoe Yates, the Titans were back in the set. The Knights rallied back with several deep kills eventually leading to a 24-20 Trivium lead. The Titans fought until the bitter end, senior Alyssa Smith diving into the stands to set up the kill. The Knights took set one 25-21. Head Coach Jones spoke about the challenges in the match:

“Trivium came out and played really good defense today. They were super scrappy the last time we saw them, so that was a change for us. We were shocked and surprised sometimes to see them return balls, but they’re a very good team, so we should’ve expected it. We did a good job rebounding with our serves. We did miss a lot of serves there in the fourth and fifth set, but I think we did a good job towards the end being aggressive. The girls did a great job today and I’m super proud of them.”

The Titans rallied back in the next two sets, victorious 25-18 in both set two and three. In addition to being one of the key hitters, Senior Alyson Mingus shut Trivium down with an electrifying seven-point service run and three aces in set two. Senior Mia Evers matched Mingus’s impressiveness in the third set with an eight-point service run and three aces. Later in the set, Evers scored another two aces against the Trivium defense. Once again, the sheer power behind senior Taylor Dedich’s kills forced the ball through blocks and brought the crowd and the players to their feet.

The Trivium Prep Knights scored 21 kills against the Titans in the fourth set and the score was tied 11 times. The fifth set determined it all, but the fourth set was the loudest, most exciting, and most nerve-racking set. Sophomore libero Juliet Mason was not the only one who dove for the ball in the final points of the set, but she did contact the ball for several key saves. After a seemingly endless back and forth, the Knights took set four 29-27, becoming the first team this season to win two games against the Titans.

Chandler Prep took control early in the final set leading 9-3 after Mingus’ fourth kill in the set and a five-point service run by Yates. The Knights struggled to maintain the serve with five service errors including the error that lost them the set, the match, and the spot in finals. With a final score of 15-11, the Titans won the match and advance to the 2A State Championship. Smith had this to say about their goals in the last match:

“We’re planning on winning. We have to execute better and, the whole time, stay at a steady pace. We have to keep our serves in and keep them out of system so their more predictable, but we’re planning on winning.”

The Chandler Prep Titans face the Phoenix Country Day Eagles in the championship match after the Eagles defeated the reigning champions from Scottsdale Christian in a close five-set match. The match takes place at the Arizona Veteran's Memorial Coliseum on November 13th at 11:00am. Titan Up.