The Paradise Valley Trojans girls volleyball team returned home Tuesday to face a formidable opponent in their first regional game of the year, the Ironwood Eagles.

The Eagles defeated the Trojans in the past two meetings against them dating back to 2021 and 2020, winning both matches, 3-1.

The Trojans (3-5, 0-1 region) tried to rewrite the script but to no avail, losing 3-0. They struggled to keep up with the Eagles throughout the night, which was evident early.

While Paradise Valley took a slight lead in the first set, the Eagles came right back, tying it 5-5 and proceeded to go on a 4-0 scoring run. The Trojans would come close a couple of times,  but wound up dropping the first set, 25-11.

After the break, the Eagles kept their foot on the gas and picked up right where they left off, getting the opening point in the second set. Without hesitation, the Trojans struck back to make it a quick 1-1.

The Eagles started to pull again after that, running the score up to 10-5.

With their backs against the wall, the Trojans did not give up and mounted am 6-0 scoring run led by senior Sofia Curran. Curran and the Trojans marched their way back into the game by going on a six-point scoring run to take an 11-10 lead.

Helping the scoring surge was senior Bella Valverde, who recorded two kills during this run, and senior Abby Peterson, who had a kill of her own.

Add in a block that fell for a point from junior Lauren Patentreger and two miscues from the Eagles; the Trojans seemed to be gaining momentum right when they needed it, and they had the lead.

Both teams would go back and forth trading points until the Eagles took a 15-12 lead on a 3-0 scoring run. Closing within one was the best the Trojans could do, making the score 15-14 before dropping the second set, 25-18.

“Sophia, she went on a six-serve run, and so that completely changes the dynamic of the game - that’s when we had actually tied it up.” said assistant coach Kalei Smith about the run the Trojans put together in the second set. “Again, it’s just up to them to maintain that and come ahead of that, and they just didn’t.”

Ironwood closed out Paradise Valley, 25-8, to win the match.

“I feel like we could have definitely played better,” Trojan senior Audrey Kennedy said. “We had our moments where we know we really stood out as a team, but we definitely had our moments where we could have come together better as a team, and I think that’s something we need to development mentally more.”

With the season still young, the Trojans will work to build chemistry and communication as a team.

“Throughout the game, we progressed and going with our team and building that team chemistry more, I feel like that’s something we are still working on in the season,” Peterson stated. “It is the beginning of the season, so we are developing it more. With that just communicating, we worked on it toward that second and last set, just communicating more with our back row, telling our front row where to go, and helping us out; I think that’s just a big component that we’re still working on.”

The Trojans will hit the road for their next game,Thursday against the Centennial Coyotes.

That game is set for 6 p.m. start.