By Madeline Witt

On Tuesday night, the 8-11 Higley Knights defeated the 7-16 Padres of Marcos de Niza 25-11, 19-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11 during the final regular season match for each team.

The Padres played well despite being without their head coach, Elizabeth Snow, who was dealing with health issues.

“This season was a struggle for these guys, but they managed to work through it,” Marcos de Niza assistant coach Melissa Yee said. “From the first time we played Higley, (when) they might have beat us in three, to take this team to five was an accomplishment for this group.”

As their records indicated, the teams appeared evenly matched early in the first set.

Padres senior Taylor Bonkoski traded spikes with Higley junior Abigail Lamoreaux, keeping the score close until a succession of aces, cross court spikes and hard line drives helped the Knights pull ahead. The Padres had their chances throughout the game, but the miscommunication issues that have sporadically plagued the team this season reappeared.

As a result, the Padres lost possession several times late in the set, allowing Higley to prevail. The miscommunication continued in the second set, with Marcos de Niza losing possession in the first play.

After a series of good plays by the Knights, the Padres rallied in the middle of the second set take the lead, 14-9.

Marcos de Niza managed to keep the lead throughout the remainder of the match, but Higley was able to get within one point several times with steady play. The set ended with an over-the-net violation by Higley junior Lauryn Harrell, sealing the Marcos de Niza win at 25-19.

The third set was also evenly matched, with both teams trading points during several possessions. Higley head coach Daniel Arrington called time out midway through the third set after a series of errors allowed the Padres to pull ahead 9-6.

But the Knights regained the lead and eventually had a set point after a Harrell ace. After a Marcos de Niza timeout, Higley sophomore Macie Thelin ended the third set with a spike.

After a slow fourth set start, the Padres rallied, tying the game at 13-13 behind the blocks and tips of sophomore Elyse Olsen and serves of junior Sophia Ashmead.

The high-powered Higley blocking duo combination of Harrell and fellow junior Bailey Boccella helped their team gain possession before Marcos de Niza once again tied the game and then pulled ahead 19-18. Higley regained possession after a timeout, but the undaunted Padres tied the set, 20-20, before Clarissa Zaragosa served up a five-point run to win the set and tie the match.

The fifth set was another high-energy, evenly matched contest that got off to a 9-9 start before the Knights called a timeout. But behind more strong play by Harrell, Higley surged ahead.   

After Marcos de Niza sent several balls out of bounds, Higley took the set and the match with a final score of 15-11.

Arrington gave all of the credit to his team.

“It all came down to the girls,” he said. “This whole season we’ve put all the pressure on them. They fought all the way.”

The match was an emotional end to a tough season for the Padres, who celebrated Senior Night Tuesday.

Marcos de Niza senior Braylen Drew summed up the season by saying, “I think we fought hard this season. There was a little change up in the program, but we stuck with it. We did really well this game. We had a lot of blocks, a lot of kills and we were really smart with the volleyball.”

Witt is a sports journalism student at Arizona State.