Compared to a 3-1 victory over Scottsdale Chaparral on Wednesday night (Sept. 23), Xavier Prep’s volleyball team was much more energetic when it came back on the floor at the Activity Center to face Chandler High on Thursday night (Sept. 24.)
After winning
the first two sets, Xavier had a two-point “hiccup’’ in Game 3 before roaring
back in Game 4 to win the match 3-1 and raise its record to 3-0 in as many
tries.
Scores
(Xavier listed first): 25-16, 25-22, 25-27 and 25-8.
Xavier Coach
Lamar-Renee Bryant had a tough time watching her team on its rollercoaster ride
against Chaparral, but was more optimistic after the win over Chandler.
“It was
definitely higher energy for us,’’ she said. “It was an overall better effort.
We passed better, were better at the net
and we made good decisions.
“We talked
about that earlier today (Thursday). We talked about being in a good mental
state and how we need to recover when bad things happen.’’
Despite the
two-set discrepancy, Chandler was not a pushover by any means. In their season
opener on Tuesday (Sept. 22), the Wolves took powerful rival Chandler Hamilton
to five sets.
In the
opening game, Xavier got some breathing room midway through when it widened a
narrow lead to allow more breathing room with five unanswered points. The
Gators finished it off with a block by junior middle blocker Bella Sinacori.
Chandler had
the lead in the early stages of Game 2, but Xavier caught the Wolves at 13 and
managed to maintain a close advantage the rest of the way. A shot by senior
outside hitter Zaira Reyes that grazed the top of the net and dropped into
Chandler territory allowed the Gators to wrap it up.
Game 3 went
back and forth before Chandler won it with a service ace.
In the
fourth game, Xavier jumped to a quick lead and never looked back as the Wolves
could not muster much of a challenge. Wolves outside hitter Kaylie Ray had a
strong game, but she needed more help.
The Xavier
freshman-sophomore team is 3-0 and the junior varsity 2-1 after wins over
Chandler. The JV match against the Wolves was noteworthy because XCP trailed
through much of the decisive Game 3 before rallying for a 15-13 victory.
The Xavier
varsity will have a stretch of three straight games next week just as it did
this week. The Gators play at Gilbert Perry on Tuesday (Sept. 29), at Mesa
Skyline on Wednesday (Sept. 30) and return home to face Hamilton on Thursday
(Oct. 1).
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