By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — In front of a packed gym, the top-ranked Notre Dame Prep Saints defeated the no. 3 Chaparral Firebirds 3-0 in volleyball. While the score may look cut and dry on paper, it was a much closer game than it appears.

While Notre Dame established dominance in set one, it was anyone’s game in set two and three. Chaparral had its chances to take control of the match, but ultimately they just couldn’t come through.

“We definitely had a lot of opportunity, it’s just we’ve got to execute with stuff that’s going to help us be successful,” Chaparral Head Coach Evan Sedillo said. “Once that happens, we’ll be fine.”

For NDP, Coach Alexandra Sandoval said her team did a good job of executing the game plan.

“We’ve been talking a lot about how to respond to errors, and also trying to minimize our opponents service runs,” Sandoval said. “Again, it’s such a close match that those runs are such a big deal. So I think they did a really nice job in executing that and not giving our opponents as many runs. I’m very proud of them.”

The matchup was a good preview of what’s to come in the playoffs for both teams.

“I think we’re a very young team, so the growth that we’ve had from the beginning of the season to now is awesome, and the growth that we’re going to have from now to the end of the season, whatever that may be, is going to prepare us for those moments, so I’m excited,” Coach Sedillo said.

“For our team, when they want to really turn it on, I think they can take anybody on any day and it’s really exciting to see,” Coach Sandoval said. “Being able to take Chaparral, such a good team, in three just gives them so much confidence going into the remainder of the season but also boosts that confidence for the State Championship, as well.”

Set one was all NDP early, as they were able to work their way out to a slight lead and hold on to it. After working their way out to a 10-6 lead over the Firebirds, Chaparral called a timeout to try to regroup. Coming out of the timeout, NDP was able to extend the lead off a block then a kill from sophomore Sylvie Solorzano. Her sister Lucy, a senior, followerd it up with an ace to push the lead to 13-6.

From there, NDP was able to hold on to the lead they’d built and took set one 25-18. The set point came on a huge kill from senior captain Elizabeth Hackleman.

Set two got underway and was back and forth at the beginning as each team fought to establish dominance. Chap jumped out to an early 5-3 lead off a soft touch by freshman Harlow Dzurick. NDP fought hard to come back and tie things, and with a block from Lucy Solorzano and the ball going out of bounds on the following play, the Saints finally found themselves tied at 11.

NDP was able to find the spark they needed and went on a small but significant run, pushing the lead to 14-12 and forcing Chaparral to use a timeout. For the remainder of the match, NDP was able to hold on to the lead and work their way to a 25-23 victory in set two.

“They have a couple of hitters who are hard to manage,” Sedillo said about NDP. “

In set three, NDP took the early 5-3 lead, but Chaparral dug deep and was able to come back and take a 9-8 lead. The Firebirds eventually worked their way to a 14-11 lead off a floater from senior Brooke Falkenborg, forcing NDP to call a timeout in set three to try to rally.

The timeout was the spark NDP needed, as they came back out and were able to tie things at 17 due to miscommunication by Chaparral. Senior Chloe Caplan had a huge kill to put Chaparral back on top 18-17, but NDP wasn’t backing down. With an ace from sophomore Charlotte Higby, the Saints took the 21-20 lead, forcing Chaparral to call a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Lucy Solorzano had another big kill, pushing the lead to 22-20. Chaparral came back and tied it at 22, leading the tension in the gym to be through the roof. However, NDP had what it took to get the job done, as they took the next three points to claim set three 25-22 and win the match 3-0.

According to Sandoval, the Firebirds changed their offense up a bit, moving shots around and making things challenging for the Saints.

“They were a little shoddy, just trying to move their shots around,” Sandoval said. “So we’re having to cover a little bit on the court. I think also, they try to serve our outsides and take them out of our offense, and I thought our outsides did a really good job of responding to that.”

For Chaparral’s Coach Sedillo, this is a youthful team that still has lots of learning to do. Despite the fact that they’re young and still have room for growth, Sedillo said he’s very pleased with how far they’ve come this season.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” Sedillo said. “It’s a hard thing to learn what they’re learning on the fly. We had a really rough three weeks and we came out of it pretty good, so now we just need to regroup and refocus and grow from there.”

Sedillo has faith they have what it takes to get things done when the post-season comes around.

“If we execute our serving game, and we execute our offense the way we should, we will be fine. We won’t have a hard time. It’s just a matter of us executing our volleyball and then whatever happens happens after that.”

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.