The Williams Field Black Hawks girls volleyball team will travel to Red Mountain High School to take part in Westwood High School’s Tournament of Champions on Friday and Saturday fresh off of a sweep against Desert Edge on Wednesday.

The weekend presents itself with both familiar foes and fresh new faces for the Black Hawks, who look to bounce back against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season.

Williams Field’s last matchup Friday will be a rematch of the first round of the 2021 AIA State Championship Tournament against the Horizon Huskies.

Horizon swept Williams Field en route to a 5A state championship.

Senior libero Briana McClimans is looking forward to facing the Huskies again as she was a part of the team that got bounced in the first round last year. She thinks Williams Field can “give them a run for their money” this year in what will be a very important matchup for the Black Hawks.

Coach Sienna Sawyer sees the matchup against Horizon as preparation for when the two teams meet in-season September 20.

“This isn’t revenge yet," she said. "We’re getting ready for the revenge.”

Whether revenge or not, the Black Hawks will have to match up against a team that finished last season hoisting a trophy with a 38-5 record, and nearly went undefeated in section play if not for a dramatic 5-set loss to Cactus Shadows.

The tournament brings together 36 teams across four different venues -- Dobson, Skyline, Westwood and Red Mountain -- in what will be the 30th annual meeting of some of the best teams in the state.

Even a team from Alaska is playing.

Williams Field will play six matches across two days. The Black Hawks will face Northwest Christian, Corona del Sol, Red Mountain and Horizon on Friday, then they’ll match up against their Higley Road rivals American Leadership Academy before taking on Deer Valley on Saturday.

Coach Sawyer says the team needs to “play smart” in order to be successful this weekend, and she stressed the importance of not working too hard to preserve the energy of the team.

It will be a test of both mind and body.

Senior outside hitter Maliyah LaBrie knows that playing six matches in two days will take a lot of effort, but the team leader in kills embraces the challenge, and looks to just “walk in there confident and get stuff done,” after weeks of preparation for this tournament.

“I know my body’s going to hurt afterwards,” LaBrie said, “But I know that when I’m in the moment I won’t even care.”

Luckily for LaBrie, tournament games are only a best two-out-of-three match instead of the usual three-out-of-five in order to squeeze in as many games as possible in two days, and avoid any unnecessary fatigue.

The Black Hawks have their work cut out for them, but Coach Sawyer has faith that her team will play smart and come away from this weekend stronger than they started.