The Campo Verde Coyotes lost in three sets to the defending state champions, Horizon Huskies, on Tuesday.

The Coyotes (3-11) kept the score even at 4-4, but Horizon (9-4) pulled away, taking a lead of 10-5 midway through the first set and finished the first set 25-9.

Campo Verde looked to rebound in the second set, and again had the score tied, this time at 7-7, but a nine-point streak for the Huskies pulled the game away, and Horizon won the second set 25-16

Horizon,  led by head coach Valorie McKenzie, who' in her 43rd season as a head coach, featured Northern Arizona commit Grace Greenlee and Baylor commit Kendal Murphy.

“Honestly, here’s the reality of it, they have multiple D1 commits, they’re six-feet plus, we’re six-feet under, it’s definitely going to be a hard match for us,” Campo Verde outside hitter Gillian Bachali said.

Morale wasn’t just low on the player's side to start the match. Even Campo Verde volleyball coach Nui Rubin knew this would be a hard matchup for the team.

“To be honest, we knew we weren’t going to win, but if we could take a set off this team, it would be so much energy for these guys going back into the gym tomorrow,” Rubin said.

Although the Coyotes couldn’t take a set off the Huskies, the team strung together a series of points that led to a close third set. Campo Verde went on an 8-4 run towards the end of the final set but fell 25-23.

As the sets went on the Coyotes started to adapt.

“So many mixed emotions from the first set, second set, and third set,” Rubin said. “It just took them time to realize what they need to fix.”

For the players, it seemed just whenever the match got close, Horizon would find a way to pull away.

“It’s hard to go neck-and-neck and then the minute they start making insane kills, you know, just because they are at a higher level,” Campo Verde defense specialist Mia Alexander said. “Especially players that can just jump up over our blocks, and it just gets discouraging.”

On the technical side, the defense seemed to be a standout note of improvement for Rubin.

“I think our defense is doing too much like we’re trying to teach them discipline, right, stay on the sport and do their jobs. I just think they were just doing a little bit too much," Rubin said.

Despite the loss, Campo Verde looks forward to their regional matchups. The Coyotes will face Canyon View on Tuesday, and Desert Mountain on Sept. 22, before kicking off a region play run with a match against Casteel on Sept. 23.

“These last couple of weeks we’ve been playing some big teams, and when we get back to our conference we should be fine, so I’m just waiting for that,” Rubin said.