No. 3 Catalina Foothills over No. 6 Prescott,  3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-18)

 

On paper, a volleyball score of 3-1 reads like a blowout but not when you look closer at each set. Led by University of Arizona recruit Raphael Temple, Prescott erased an early 11-5 Tucson Catalina Foothills lead to take the first set 25-21.

Temple recorded seven kills and had four assists in the opening round. Oddly, the highly-recruited junior leads Prescott in kills with over 400 and has almost 500 assists.  A pure setter on the club circuit, her ability to hit has given Prescott coach Shellie Bowman a few extra options.

"She's an awesome talent," said Bowman. "I know she plays in a 5-1 offense in club but we also need her hitting. She remarkable."

Catalina Foothills standout hitter Delaney Dunagan agrees with Bowman's assessment of Temple and is excited about the possibility of joining her at Arizona.

"We knew coming in how great she was," explained Dunagan. "We knew they were an amazing team but she was really good. We had a tough fight and we had to really go for it."

Many of Temple's scores came via setter dump, delivered to the middle or deep corner, but, when sophomore Erinn Marroquinn got under the ball, Temple delivered shots that were equally devastating.

But Catalina Foothills also has scorers. Joining Dunagan at the net was Julia Cravens. Dunagan finished with 16 kills and Cravens added 12 but it was the seven kills from Cravens in the second set that helped turn the tide.

Catalina Foothills built an 11-4 lead but Prescott went on an 8-1 run to tie it up at 12-12. Prescott went on to build a 20-18 lead and then 21-20 but Cravens tied it up at 21-21.

Temple responded to put Prescott back up 22-21 but Cravens tied it back up. With the set tied at 22-22, Prescott was called for three net violations in a row to give Catalina Foothills the 25-22 win.

Had Prescott won that set then there would probably be no stopping their momentum but the third set proved just as competitive. Tied at 22-22 on a block from Cravens, junior Veronica Norkus put Prescott up 23-22. Catalina Foothills gave up another point and Prescott was on the brink with a 24-22 lead.

Kelsey Siemons picked up a block for the Falcons to cut the lead and then Brooke Courtney served up back-to-back aces to give Catalina Foothills a 25-24 lead. Courtney's serves have a tendency to die at the last moment and Prescott could not respond to them.

Dunagan delivered the last blow and Catalina Foothills won the set 26-24, putting them up 2-1.

Bowman felt a few calls could have gone their way as did Catalina Foothills coach David Thistle. That's the way of the game but Thistle saw service points such as those delivered by Courtney as the true difference in the match.

"You play the game and it seems to come down to two simple things like serving and passing," explained Thistle. "We are also big and athletic and you can't stop a player like Temple so we worked to contain her. In the end, our serves made the difference."

Dunagan took over in the fourth set with two aces, a block and five kills to pace Catalina Foothills to a 25-18 win with her last two kills coming on the 24th and 25th point to secure the 3-1 victory.

"We had a few mistakes and missed on some opportunities," said Temple. "But I feel we played hard after a long day of traveling. They are a good team and it could have gone either way."

Temple ended with a game-high 17 kills and had 15 assists and senior Sydney Koehler added 10 more kills.

Koehler is one of only one of three seniors on the team. With nine juniors and sophomores coming back including Temple and Norkus, Prescott looks to be an easy choice to go deeper in the playoffs next year.

"We will have a very solid team next year," added Bowman. "We will be back."

All four top seeds made it to the semifinal round in Division II. That means No. 3 Catalina Foothills will match up against No. 2 Phoenix Sunnyslope on Saturday at noon and No.1 Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge will play No. 4 Scottsdale Notre Dame at 2 pm.

The semifinal round will be played at Gilbert Mesquite High School and will be shown live on the NFHSNetwork found at AIA365.com.

The championship match will be played Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 pm and will be held  at Mesquite High School.

 

 

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