Huston Dunston Jr. is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Vista High School for AZPreps365.com.

Desert Vista coach Audra Slemmer wanted her team to "show up and compete" after losing their fouirth straight match last Tuesday to Queen Creek.

Two days later, the Thunder faced the top ranked team in 6A Central, Corona Del Sol.

They played the unbeaten Aztecs tough, but lost in straight sets (25-14, 25-13, 25-21).

"We came into this game after a good practice yesterday, our goal was to serve aggressively, pass consistently, and go out there and compete.” Slemmer said.

Desert Vista (6-7) got down early trailing. 5-0, in the first set. Corona Del Sol (13-0) seemed to come out and execute their plan perfectly, but the Thunder rallied to make it 6-5 after some hard fought rallies.

Then Corona Del Sol took the momentum right back, pushing its lead to 17-9 at the break. At one point they were up by 14 in the first set before winning by nine.

.“Being smart with our shots would have helped us in the first set,” Thunder junior Jenna Werbelow said.

Corona Del Sol and Desert Vista treated the next set like it was a boxing match, trading blow for blow. After many good rallies, the score was 4-4.

The Aztecs attempted to take control by building a 7-5 lead, but the Thunder came right back and tied it up. Corona Del Sol then went on an 8-1 run in taking the set over, winning it, 25-13.

The third set felt like the first one for the Thunder as they fell behind, 10-4, but a switch turned on for them. They gained a bunch of momentum to take a 12-11 lead.

It seemed as if Desert Vista started to find that winning formula.

Even after the Aztecs regained the lead, the feeling in the gym was that the Thunder had this set.

The Aztecs took a 16-13 advantage but the Thunder quickly made it closer at 16-15.

The game had started to turn into a heavyweight boxing match once again with each team trading blows trying to win this third set.

The Aztecs were able to hit 20 right after a few good rallies. After falling behind 21-17, Slemmer called for a quick break to get her team together to figure out a game plan to slow down the Aztecs.

The third set looked as if it going down to the wire, but won the final set, 25-21.

“Being more aggressive and consistent with our shots is how we can improve,” Desert Vista senior Madison Dudley said.

The Thunder look to get back into the win column Oct. 18 against Desert Ridge (5-7).