One could tell Basha's girls volleyball team was anxious to play Tuesday night. Afterall, the Bears were starting their season a week later than most teams. That included their opponent this night, Highland, which played two matches last week.

Despite an extra week of waiting to hit the court, Basha looked pretty sharp for as the Bears pulled off a sweep of the visiting Hawks, 25-23, 25-21 and 25-20 in a 6A match.

"We were ready to get a match in," Basha coach Terri Spann said. "I think tonight it was to our advantage that we hadn't played. They didn't know what to expect from us."

While the scores don't scream domination, Highland (1-2) rarely led. A well-rounded statistical effort by Spann's starting lineup was enough to keep Highland on an uphill climb nearly from the opening serve. Highland led three times in the first set, once -- 3-2 in the second - and never in the third.

Basha junior outside hitter Samantha Drewry took the lead with 15 kills and six aces. Senior outside Chayse Daughtery checked in with seven kills and six blocks while junior middle blocker  Lindsey Otero added five kills. Six-foot-1 junior setter Aspen Aldous kept the attack humming with 33 assists and senior libero Kylra Porch contributed 15 digs.

Highland coach Jordan Neal was frustrated his team trailed so much and couldn't get a run that put his squad over the top, particularly the first two sets that were up for grabs. One of Highland's leads in the first set and its largest of the night (21-19 was promising. Three kills down the stretch by Drewry and a violation on set point finished the set.

Highland trailed 22-17 in the second set and managed to pull within 22-21 forcing a Basha timeout. Poor passing and two hitting errors by the Hawks closed the set.

The third set saw Drewry serve four successive aces in a 6-0 getaway. Highland again rallied to within 10-9, but was blitzed up to match point via a 24-13 deficit. Basha subbed liberally late in the set and the Hawks put up a 7-0 run to make it look closer than it was.

"They served well," Neal said. "We tried to pick and choose how to defend (Drewry), but nothing worked."

It will be a busy week for Highland.  The Hawks face Corona del Sol at home on Wednesday and visit Skyline on Thursday. Then it's on to the House of Payne Invitational at Chandler on Friday and Saturday.  Basha visits Mesa on Thursday for its only other match this week.