Phoenix Sunnyslope’s girls varsity volleyball team is a step away from winning another state championship under coach Amber LeTarte.

But during their Tuesday state 5A Conference state semifinal match at Marcos de Niza, Tucson Sahauaro made Sunnyslope earn its most recent state championship appearance. Sahauro was the second team to push Sunnyslope to five games during the 2016 playoffs.

This time, Sunnyslope advanced with a 19-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-16, 15-11 win over Sahuaro, the No. 2 seed.

Sunnyslope is 5-0 in 5-game matches this season and is 7-0 in state championship matches with LeTarte at the helm.

Sunnyslope’s confidence was evident while attacking the net in the final game, causing Sahuaro to get out of system.

“We continued telling them what was open and mixing it up with the sets,” LeTarte said. “As we started using the tools that we have, the game kind of turned around.”

Sunnyslope wasn’t used to the high speed offense Sahuaro ran, having two strong outside hitters and an unstoppable middle hitter. There was miscommunication, missed serves and out of control passes that caused Sunnyslope to lose the sets it did.

“I think we came in prepared, but we didn’t expect their energy,” LeTarte said. “We had to make some changes.”

To switch up the intensity, LeTarte rotated in her two freshman, Maddie Sheptson and Blake LeTarte, and they each responded with a couple of aces.

Outside hitters Kayla Matthews and Jazmyn Wheeler led the team with 16 kills apiece and middle hitter Miranda Bacon had 11 kills and three blocks. Sophomore setter Macy Wilke totaled 47 assists.

Sunnyslope (28-13) had a hard time finding an answer for Sahuaro senior middle hitter Brielle Stern, whose explosive hits by the ten-foot line was something Sunnyslope hadn’t seen this season.

“(Stern) a powerful hitter that gets up in the air and kind of goes around your block,” LeTarte said.

Sahuaro had a core of six strong players on the court who played consistently through the five sets while the libero rotated in for one opposite in the back court.

Sunnyslope assistant coach Adam Shingler said his team’s stamina was great and was working hard the whole match.

In the final sets of the match, Sunnyslope started playing smart volleyball, finding the holes on the court that caused Sahuaro to play out system.

“I thought we did really well with (Sahuaro’s) block and defense,” Shingler said.

LeTarte said she is expecting her players to come out with urgency and passion during Wednesday’s state match up game against No. 1 Centennial at Mesquite high school in Gilbert.