By Ryan Wright

The Buena Colts (11-6, 4-2) traveled north to the south side of Tucson to take on the Sunnyside Blue Devils Wednesday and secured their third straight win with a 25-11, 25-15, 25-12 victory over the one-win Blue Devils.

With the victory, Buena remains in fourth-place in Section I, and its only two section losses have come to two teams directly above them in the standings, the Rincon Rangers (17-10, 6-0) and the Sahuaro Cougars (15-6, 5-1).

The Colts had a distinct size advantage against the Blue Devils Wednesday, and their ability to play above the net was the key to their victory in straight sets.

Buena senior captain Devin Rottweiler led the way for the Colts with 12 kills to go along with his two aces.

The 6-foot-7 Rottweiler was set up consistently throughout the match by fellow senior Sean Zilligen and junior Jesse Carter, with each of Rottweiler’s 12 kills being assisted by one of the Buena setters.

Zilligen finished with eight total assists, while Carter added nine assists of his own.

The Colts made serving look easy throughout the match, racking up 17 aces, with junior Chris McGuyer notching six of them.

Sunnyside struggled offensively, scoring only four kills during the entire match and failing to lead at any point of any set.

Wednesday’s result was an improvement for the Blue Devils since they failed to reach double-digits in points in any set during their last outing, a loss to the Mountain View Mountain Lions (20-6, 7-0).

Still alive for a section title, Buena will look to close out the regular season with victories over the Sabino Sabercats (8-9, 3-3) at home on Thursday and on the road against the first-place Cienega (23-10, 6-0) on May 3.

Sunnyside will end its season at home on May 3 against the Palo Verde Titans (4-14, 0-7).  

Ryan Wrights is a sports journalism student at Arizona State.