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

North Phoenix Preparatory was back on the court after a long hiatus, but continued the winning momentum against Salome High School on Tuesday.

The Gladiators (12-3, 11-3) won in a three-set match against the Frogs, 25-17, 25-23, 25-19. North Phoenix Prep is currently on a four-game win streak, which has led them to a No. 7  ranking in the state and second overall in the 1A Central conference.

“Yesterday was our full 12 (team) that got back in the gym and I just went over what we are here for,” North Phoenix Prep coach Summer Anderson said. “We’re here to grow the game of volleyball. We’re here to win our region and the next step is to win state.”

North Phoenix Prep got off to a slow start with the Frogs (7-7, 6-5) taking over due to errors from North Phoenix. The Gladiators were trailing for a bit but regained the lead, 13-10,  after back-to-back aces from junior Yana K. 

Salome coach Ramon Soto called a timeout after North Phoenix Prep went up 17-11. The Frogs were able to put some points on the board after multiple errors from the Gladiators, but it was not enough. Sophomore Sophie Ulrich sealed the deal with a kill on game point. 

Soto was happy with how his team played offensively and despite struggling on defense, the Frogs senior Kaniece Thomas was able to stop multiple point tries for North Phoenix Prep with five blocks.

“We couldn’t adjust for it at first and we made a lot of mistakes,” Soto said. “We just need to call the ball more.”

The second set was a back-and-forth battle. The Gladiators and the Frogs exchanged points throughout the set with both of the teams' defense and offense fighting until the end. Salome went on a 5-0 run, cutting the Gladiators' lead to 19-17, which forced Anderson to call a timeout.

Anderson told her team that they do not need to be the harder volleyball players per se, but the smarter ones.

“Pick on those players that are weaker on that court,” Anderson said. “Pick on those spots that they are not covering.”

After the timeout, North Phoenix Prep went  on a 5-0 run of its own in order to regain the lead down the stretch. Salome did not go away as the Frogs kept the score close.

Just when it looked like the Frogs were about to push the second set into extra points, freshman Maya Pesheva put the set away with a block on a set point, giving the Gladiators a 25-23 win.

The momentum for the second set continued into the third set as both the Gladiators and the Frogs exchanged points back and forth. North Phoenix Prep won the match after a go-ahead kill from Ulrich.

Junior Bella Conner and Ulrich led the team with four kills each. Conner said that the team is still trying to get back into the groove of things after a week-long break.

“We know we’re already in state, so it's just pushing it and showing everyone that we’re up there,” Conner said.

With state playoffs nearing, Anderson’s focus is the last three games of the season.

“We’ve got to win those (games) to win our region, then the next step is to prepare for state,” Anderson said. 

North Phoenix Prep will be on the road to take on conference rival Anthem Prep (5-9, 5-7) Thursday at 6 p.m.