Aaron Gonzalez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Alhambra High School for AZPreps365.com

The Alhambra Lions secured their first win of the season against the Carl Hayden Falcons in five sets on Thursday.

In an extremely close match, the Lions (1-10, 1-9) won the first two sets with identical  27-25 scores, before losing the third and fourth sets, 21-25 and 26-28. But then they dominated in the decisive fifth set, winning 15-4.

Starting off slow, the Lions found themselves playing from behind. Within the first few plays of the match the score was 2-6. It went back and forth, but eventually the Lions got a rhythm going and tied the game at 10-10. From there they went on a 7-0 run en route to a 27-25 win.

The Lions started the second set off strong, but the Falcons responded back point for point to tie the set at 13. The Falcons found a rhythm of their own and took the lead but the Lions responded back with a few aces as well as kills by seniors Lizeth Yepiz and Kasandra Padilla. The Lions won the second set 27-25.

The start of the third set saw the Lions down early in the match 2-6. But after back-to-back-to-back aces from senior Celeste Carter gave the Lions life. They tied the set at 14, but the Falcons pulled away to a 25-21 win.

In a must-win situation for the Falcons, the Lions found themselves down early, 7-10, in the fourth set. They went on a 6-1 run, tied the game at 15 and took the lead 21-18. Both teams had an answer for each other's rallies. It was a match that came down to just two points with the Falcons taking the set, 28-26.

The Lions came out roaring to start the fifth set going on a 4-0 run. The Falcons scored just two points before the Lions would go on a six-point run. Padilla finished the night with a game-winning ace that gave the Lions their first win of the season. The Lions won the fifth set, 15-4.

The Lions finished the night with 27 kills, 20 aces and four blocks.

Despite a tough loss Carl Hayden coach Andrew Scott was proud of his team’s effort in these close sets and would like to see more work on defense.

“They started to find some energy at the end of some of those points,” Scott said. “Those games got really close. There were points where they got the energy up and tried to fight back. Hopefully when we see them again we will start off strong.

“We're going to continue to work on our defense. Were short a couple players. We're learning these new serve orders, new rotations. Getting some more blocks in and getting our passes controlled so the setter can get to them.”

Alhambra coach AJ Manuel was proud of the effort his team gave.

“They really tried. Through and through every single set,” Manuel said. “There were points where we saw a ball drop but then they turned it around. That's really what we train our kids at Alhambra to do. If you're gonna make a mistake, turn around and fix it. So that you cannot make that mistake again.”

Senior Kasandra Padilla was proud to have the game-winning ace for the team.

“It felt so amazing to lead my team to victory,” Padilla said. “It was a bit rough but we didn't give up. We never give up. To finally get the win just felt even more amazing. I’m proud of us and hopefully in the future we can be better and get the other dub.”

Alhambra will travel to North High School to take on the Mustangs (5-5, 6-5) on Monday at 6 p.m., while Carl Hayden hosts the Camelback Spartans (3-8, 3-8) on Monday at 6 p.m.