Katrina Villarreal is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Phoenix Preparatory for AZPreps365.com  

North Phoenix Prep (9-2, 9-2) dominated against Superior on Friday (2-6, 2-6) at the Epic Tourneys Volleyball Invitational at the Arizona State University Fitness Complex. 

The Gladiators won the two-set match,  25-11 and 25-17, and now have an eight-game winning streak.

A kill by Sophie Ulrich kicked off the start of an 8-0 run for the Gladiators. Freshman Luciana Woelzlein had three aces in the first match, which also included the ace she had on a set point of the first set.

“I told them, just don't play down to the other team's level, don't play timid,” coach Summer Anderson said. “I want you guys to come with your full force like we've been doing in every practice.”

In the second set of the match, North Phoenix went on an 8-0 run which caused Superior coach Sonia Estatico to call a timeout. Contributing to the run was junior Yana K with back-to-back aces and two kills -- one from junior Bella Conner and one from Ulrich. After the timeout Superior was able to put up some points, but North Phoenix Prep continued to show resilience that later resulted in a 7-0 run.

Superior was able to gain some momentum down the stretch with a 9-0 run that made the score 17-21 which led to a North Phoenix Prep timeout. However, Superior was unable to close out the match after a kill from Ulrich on a set point to end the match.

From the vantage point of Estatico, she said her team will need to improve on communication and moving their feet in order to keep the ball inbounds.

“They started off slow,” Estatico said. “I’m proud of them, because North Phoenix Prep, they’re pretty good.”

Not only did the defense show up for North Phoenix Prep, but the offense did too. North Phoenix Prep recorded 21 kills and 12 aces.

Although she had a cold, Ulrich led the Gladiators with 11 kills. 

Ulrich’s personal highlight of the game was communicating with sophomore setter Samantha Daniel in order to keep the match fast-paced.

“I feel like we were able to try a lot of new plays in the games and run some faster plays, which will get us prepared for state (if we qualify),” Ulrich said. 

The Gladiators are hoping to continue the streak as they prepare for the last day of the Epic Tourneys Volleyball Invitational where they will face off against more difficult teams. Anderson told her girls to play exactly the way they did on Friday.

“Don’t play timid,” Anderson said. “Come out like you played today and we're going to be golden for tomorrow.” 

North Phoenix Prep began the invitational on Friday with a win against San Miguel High School (1-6, 1-9) 25-10 and 25-15. Later the Gladiators swept Sierra Linda High School (7-2, 6-1) in its second match of the day, 25-27 and 25-15.

North Phoenix Prep will host Desert Heights Prep (2-4, 2-5) Tuesday at 6 p.m. Superior will host Fort Thomas (2-5, 3-5) Tuesday at 5 p.m.