Courtney Robinson is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Central High School for AZPreps365.com

After a rough start on the road Wednesday night, the Tempe Preparatory Academy girls volleyball team ultimately took down the Lincoln Prep Lightning in five sets.

After falling to the Lightning in the first set, 25-15, the Knights took the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-13, but they struggled to keep that momentum. They fell in the fourth set 25-14 but battled back to win the fifth set, 15-8. 

“We were kind of being lazy as far as transitioning,” Tempe Prep coach Angela Lagore said. “We were walking off the net. We weren’t ready for the free balls and we didn’t execute on those balls that we should have.”

Lagore said the Lightning (1-5) came out with more energy than her team. When her team adjusted, Lincoln Prep did, too. 

“Whoever is going to have the most energy is going to win the ball game,” Tempe Prep assistant coach Brittany Peters said. 

Sophomore captain Jasmine Garcia brought that fitting energy for the Knights (4-2). Garcia tallied 18 kills and more than 10 digs. When communicating with her team on the court, Garcia echoed her coach’s sentiments.

“We were just saying, ‘Energy up. Everyone heads up. We need to pick it up right now.’ And then we just brought it up, because everyone’s energy was amazing, and we just tried the best we can, and we pulled it off last second,” Garcia said. 

On the other side of the court, the Lightning came out hot in set one. The Lincoln Prep squad is focused on building chemistry between a wide range of grades and skill sets. 

Coach Lynn Achord was proud of his team’s positive attitude. 

“That’s what we try to focus on,” Achord said. “You know, it’s easy to stay positive when you’re winning, but it’s hard to be positive and a good team influence when you’re not, so that’s what we try to focus on.” 

In the second and third sets, the Knights began to show the energy and fight that their leaders were searching for. Tempe Prep capitalized in the second set by reading hits better and committing significantly fewer serving errors.  

In set two, sophomore Camille Snyder served two aces and led the Knights on a seven-point scoring run that Lincoln Prep could not recover from. Senior Hannah Garcia stepped up for the Knights in set three, with three aces and a block.

Just when the Knights started to execute, they were halted by a Lightning six-point scoring run early in the fourth set. 

“I thought that we could come out and really smoke this team,” Lagore said. “It was just upsetting because we weren’t playing as a team. We were whaling balls out of bounds.”

Lagore was proud of how her team performed in the second and third sets, but the lapse that brought her frustration was the serving and passing.

“If you can’t keep your serves in and you can’t pass well, you can’t run the offense,” Lagore said. “It was just disappointing to see when those things weren’t going well, that we were just breaking down.”

The Knights were able to regroup after the tough loss in set four to earn the victory. Tempe Prep started off the fifth set firing. Junior Taryn Hamilton started the set by serving three consecutive aces, and Garcia slammed three final kills. 

“I think that we finished strong, even though it was back and forth between the game,” Lagore said. “I said if you guys go out there with more energy, you communicate, and you play as a team, you will beat this team.”

Tempe Prep travels to Phoenix Country Day (5-2) on Thursday and Lincoln Prep takes on North Phoenix Preparatory Academy (2-2) on Thursday at North Phoenix.