By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — Chaparral girls volleyball, the reigning 5A state champions, had quite the test Thursday night when they traveled to perennial 6A powerhouse Corona del Sol. Chaparral started out strong by taking set one, but Corona rallied back to win the next three straight and take the match 3-1. After the match, Evan Sedillo shared some of his takeways from the learning opportunity for the Firebirds.

What do you feel like Corona del Sol did that challenged Chaparral on the court?
“Their block was amazing tonight, and we talked about it heading into the match, about who’s gonna be difficult to deal with, and it was every bit of what we described and what we thought we were going to see. It was good.”

Where do you feel like your team excelled tonight on the court?
“We served zone one tough, and that was able to limit the middle’s success in serve-receive. Then we got our attack off pretty well, but we were getting a little bit stuck. We served tough, we passed well, we defended pretty well. We had some opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize on them.”

What do you feel like are your biggest takeaways from this match?
“We need to work on our offense. Our offense is good, not great, and we need to shore that up so we can be a little bit cleaner. Making quicker decisions and send the ball around the court a little bit more aggressively.”

Is there anything specific you’re going to work on at the next practice?
“We’re gonna work on some hitting techniques, some connection with the setters. Maybe a little bit of ball control, but the hitting and the connection with the setter really needs to tighten up.”

Who do you feel had the best performance on your team tonight?
“Sarah Hodgson was amazing. She sets in the back row, hits in the front row. She defends and blocks so well. She had a great match for us.”

I know you were state champs last year. What are your goals for this year’s squad?
“We have a relatively new group. We have a lot of younger kids on the team, so we’ve gotta get them some experience and find some success and then we just need a lot more reps. The more reps we can get, the better. Get everybody tuned-in and tuned-up."

What do you think your team’s best attribute is going to be this season?
“Our ball control and defense is good. It’s gonna be amazing in a couple of weeks. It’s gonna be amazing. Our hitting really has a lot of room for growth and it’s going to do really well in the next couple of weeks, so I’m excited.”

Is there anything you’re looking forward to with this team?
“No, I mean they come in, they work hard every day. They have a great attitude, great work ethic. They have fun, they care about each other. They’re a really easy group to manage and keep on task and work with, so I’m just excited for the season with them. It’s gonna be a great season. Win or lose, we’re going to have fun and be together as a group and a team. So I’m excited for that. They’re a lot of fun to work with.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.