The Perry Pumas volleyball team came out with a dominating 25-13, 25-12, 25-17 win over Chandler on Senior Night to conclude their regular season.

In the first set, Perry set the tone and had many spurts of three or four unanswered points. In the second set, Perry jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but Chandler came back, closing the gap to within three points. 

But a blazing finish by Perry helped the team run away with the second set. Chandler did go ahead, 2-1, its only lead in the match, during the start of the final set, but Perry proved to be too much, ending the match with another strong run.   

A key contributor for Perry was senior Amanda Aguirre, who had eight kills and three aces. Aguirre's teammate Kennedy Kaminsky, a junior, contributed seven kills.

Junior Alexis Keith (five kills, 10 digs) and junior Halle Razo (13) also stood out. Perry finished its regular season with a 25-5 overall record.

Chandler is 15-17 and will play Tucson Rincon Thursday in the 6A Play-In Conference games.

Chandler ended its regular season playing top-ranked teams such as Hamilton, Xavier Prep and Perry twice.

“We knew we were going to end with a really tough schedule,” Chandler coach Audra Slemmer said. “It was good for us in preparing for Thursday night.”

After being swept by Xavier, Perry won its last three games of the regular season.

“We came in a little too confident, thinking that since we beat them the last time we played them we would beat them again,” said Keith about the Xavier match. 

Keith has been a great addition for Perry.

She missed the first half of the season because she transferred in and has recorded 62 kills and 15 digs so far. Besides the Xavier Prep defeat, two of Perry’s losses this season also came to another top-ranked team, Hamilton.

“We have to be aggressive and stay aggressive,” Aguirre said. “We have to get in our rhythm and that will be the key to winning.”

Aguirre has been a dominant player for Perry this season, posting 215 kills, 330 digs and 28 aces before the Chandler match.

Perry will find out Sunday at 11 a.m. which team it will play in the first round of the playoffs. 

“Three years ago it was about can we make the state tournament. It’s not about that anymore,” Perry coach Fred Mann said. “It is now can we progress in this tournament.”