Caitlin Fowble is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Deer Valley for AZPreps365.com

The Deer Valley Skyhawks took all three sets backed by a strong offensive showing against the Agua Fria Owls in Avondale Thursday night. 

Deer Valley (5-3, 1-1) shined on offense, winning the match with set scores of 25-19, 25-17 and 25-11. The Skyhawks had all things working as they never trailed during the match. 

 “Definitely our energy and our positivity. Our serving was key, and then obviously we had some good hits,” Skyhawks coach Jackie Wallace said. 

The Skyhawks finished with 11 aces and 37 kills. Seniors Sam Gloria and Amanda Hardt combined for 30 of those kills. 

Sophomore Bella Figueroa also credited her team’s energy in Thursday’s win. 

“The bench helped with all the cheering. We were really good,” Figueroa said. “It was the bench. We all helped.”

The Skyhawks bench was involved the entire match, providing strong communication and encouragment for their teammates. 

The Skyhawks and the Owls (2-6, 1-1) were dialed into a first-set battle when play paused due to an injury. Skyhawks junior Natalie Vasquez suffered an ankle injury midway through the first set and left the match. 

“It’s heartbreaking, totally,” Wallace said. “I think they really wanted to win for her probably,  and are worried for her, but they all pulled it together today.”

During the stoppage in play, the Owls’ players stood in front of an injured Vasquez, giving her privacy in a great show of sportsmanship. 

“Well I think all players worry about it happening to them,” Owls coach Jen Weeg said. “You’re always worried about it as an athlete and it takes you like three or four points afterwards to reset your mind.”

After the injury, the Skyhawks outscored the Owls 8-4 to secure the set victory. The rest of the match was dominated by the Skyhawks’ power on offense. 

“I was very excited to play and really wanted a win tonight,” said Figueroa, who finished the night with two kills and two aces. 

It wasn’t reflected in the box score, but the Owls played a hard-fought match in all three sets with the Skyhawks. 

“I do think my team really stepped up and played at a higher level that they haven’t played in the past,” Weeg said. “We definitely challenged them a couple times, and we had a lot of long rallies and volleys.”

Both teams are preparing to move forward, competing in separate tournaments this weekend. 

“I definitely think we need to learn to put the ball away,” Weeg said. “I thought we passed well tonight, which we hadn’t passed well last night. So I’m looking for our hitters to make the same adjustments this weekend.”

“This is a good win, a good confidence booster going into tomorrow. We’re excited,” Wallace said. 

Deer Valley travels to Mesa to compete in the Nike Tournament of Champions on Saturday and Sunday. Their first game of the weekend is against La Jolla Country Day (CA) School (7-15, 0-3) Saturday at 10 a.m.

Agua Fria heads to Queen Creek to compete in the “Spiketown” volleyball tournament. Their first game takes place Saturday at 2 p.m. against the Gilbert Christian Knights (8-3, 4-0).