Red Mountain came from behind to beat Marcos de Niza in the third set of Friday’s Tournament of Champions play. The matchup featured a 6A versus 4A team, favoring in direction of the larger school, Red Mountain.

The Mountain Lions (7-7) finished strong, winning the last two sets, 25-23, 15-13.

After a timeout late in the third set, momentum shifted in the Mountain Lions favor.

“Our thing is learning how to finish games,” Marcos de Niza coach Melissa Yee said. “ "We’re not going to get up to that next level until they learn how to finish matches.”

Marcos de Niza (6-9) struggled in the second and third set against senior middle hitter, Kayla Subbert. Subbert dominated the Padres, finishing rallies with her powerful kills.

“We relied on our passes to be great so we could keep (Kayla) involved,” Red Mountain coach Kevin Holck said.

The Padres won the first set. 25-21, during their match with the Mountain Lions. The girls played together, finishing rallies and acing multiple serves.

Yee said she feels the team didn’t have one single player standout, instead playing better as a team.

“We don’t have a standout on our team,” Yee said. “On certain teams you know exactly who is that girl. We don’t have that, and I think it’s a good thing.”

Freshman middle hitter Hailey White had a handful of blocks after returning from an ankle injury. White had a great defensive game, doing her best to offset the Mountain Lions' aggressive offense.

“I’m a good blocker, “ White said. “Today was an especially good day for me defensively.”

Marcos de Niza came off a tough loss earlier in the day to the Pinnacle Pioneers, 25-16, 25-20.

Yee said the girls improved from their first match and she hopes to continue that trend leading into region play.

Coming up, the Padres face the Higley Knights (7-3, 1-0) in a Class 4A Desert Sky Region matchup at home on Sept. 25. The Mountain Lions will travel for a Class 6A non-region match against the Chandler Wolves (12-5, 0-2) on Sept. 26.