Dylan Pescatore is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Christian High School for AZPreps365.com

The Phoenix Christian boys volleyball team bent, but did not break against Poston Butte on Wednesday night. After 13 days off due to spring break, the Cougars looked rusty, but did just enough for a 3-1 win (25-23, 26-24, 19-25, 25-22) against the Broncos. 

Phoenix Christian came out hungry in the first set, winning the first five points of the match backed by the great serving of senior Adriel Hernandez. The Broncos cut the deficit to two points, but the Cougars finished the set off 25-23 off a kill by senior Micah Carter. 

The momentum the Cougars got from the first set did not carry over to the second as the Broncos scored seven of the first eight points. Head coach Terry Sutter then called a timeout, where he urged his team to stop making unforced errors.

“It’s just about being clean with the volleyball and letting the other team make a few mistakes,” he said. 

The Cougars made a comeback after the timeout, going on a 14-7 run to take the lead at 15-14. They used their momentum to finish the set 26-24 when junior Cam Hatter had a kill to secure the 2-0 lead.

“It felt pretty good because I wanted to finish that set as quickly as possible because I was trying to go home,” he said jokingly. 

It looked as if the Cougars were going to bring out the brooms and sweep the Broncos out of their home gym, starting the third set with a 6-3 lead. Seniors Isiah Parris and Carter had three kills each to start, but Poston Butte was not going to go down easily. The desperate Broncos came back with a 7-2 run of their own, taking a 10-8 lead. 

The Cougars seemed to have no answers after losing their advantage, as the Broncos won 25-19 to stay alive.

The fourth set seemed to be the same as the second. The Broncos jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Four straight Cougar points stopped their momentum in its tracks, as senior Micah Carter found his groove, totaling four kills in the set. 

Although all the credit went to Carter, the man behind his success was senior setter Hernandez, who takes pride in making his fellow Cougars look good.

“My teammates— they always try to have my back in case I can’t get the set,” he said.

Poston Butte’s lead went up to six at one point during the set, but the Cougars took their first lead at 19-18, taking advantage of self-imposed errors made by the Broncos. 

Phoenix Christian was at game point 24-22 when a hit by Parris forced the Broncos into complete confusion with the ball ending up out of bounds, giving the Cougars the victory. 

 

  The Cougars celebrate their third win of the season. (Dylan Pescatore / AZpreps365)

With just one game before region play for the Cougars, senior captain Cristian Mickey wasn’t satisfied with his team's performance. He knows his squad can get to another level. 

“Sometimes we get in our heads a little bit, and make some small little mistakes, but once we’re rolling we’re pretty much unstoppable,” he said. 

Phoenix Christian will head back home as they host Northwest Christian to start region play on Tuesday at 5:30 pm.