By Brittany Bowyer
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PEORIA — The season will continue on for #14 Centennial Volleyball after the Coyotes picked up a four-set victory over #19 Desert Mountain in the play-in round on Tuesday.

It was a close match with two sets that could have gone either way, but Centennial was able to maintain focus and execute to get the job done.

“I’m excited, but I feel like we have work to do,” Centennial Head Coach Leah Orth said. “Tomorrow, we have some work.”

Both teams fought for the lead in set one before Centennial was eventually able to establish a little bit of dominance. After Centennial eventually worked its way out to an 8-5 lead, Desert Mountain called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Coyotes had an ace from senior Gabrielle Kresl, followed by a kill from sophomore Abigail Whitson.

From there, the Coyotes were able to continue building on the lead, eventually forcing Desert Mountain to call a timeout as the Wolves trailed 15-7.

Desert Mountain found some momentum coming out of the timeout, but it would be enough to overcome the deficit they were facing in set one. Closing things out with a floater, sophomore Isabella Palladino was able to find the floor for the set, as Centennial took set one 25-17 and went up 1-0.

“First set, we definitely weren’t playing our game,” Desert Mountain Coach Marissa McNamara said. “We were not being able to control our game. We were making lots of errors.”

Set two started out similar to set one as both teams worked to establish dominance. Desert Mountain took an 8-7 lead in set two, but Centennial eventually was able to work its way back to a 16-15 lead on a block from Palladino. After the ball went out of bounds on the next play, Desert Mountain called a timeout trailing 17-15. Centennial eventually pushed the lead to 22-18, forcing Desert Mountain to call another timeout in an attempt to rally.

It worked, as the Wolves went on a run and tied things at 23, forcing Centennial to call a timeout as the pressure was on. Kresl came to life for the Coyotes, scoring the last three of Centennial's four points in the set. The Coyotes were able to go on to close out set two 27-25, taking a 2-0 lead..

With their backs against the wall, Desert Mountain was able to dig deep in set three. Fighting to establish the upper hand, Desert Mountain was eventually able to break away to a 9-7 lead on an ace from senior Miranda McDonald. From there, the Wolves continued to roll, working their way out to a 17-11 lead.

Centennial called a timeout, but the momentum was too much to stop. Following a kill from sophomore Dani Barbour, Desert Mountain took a 21-13 lead and Centennial called another timeout.

Coach Orth said in the timeouts, her message was that her team needed to play all-out the entire time.

“The main thing is we need to play 110 percent all the time,” Coach Orth said. “I feel like we’re taking breaks off and we need to just play defense and go. The ball’s coming back over, there’s no time to take breaks.”

Centennial rallied in set three, cutting the lead to 24-18, but it would be too little too late, as the set clincher came on a kill by Barbour. Desert Mountain stayed alive by taking set three 25-18, but still trailed 2-1 overall.

Set four was all Desert Mountain early. The Wolves were able to jump out to a 5-0 lead, which they maintained for quite some time. However, a kill from junior Leah Rosales ignighted a fire for the Coyotes, and they were eventually able to cut Desert Mountain’s lead to just one.

White-knuckling the 12-11 lead, Desert Mountain called a timeout in hopes of regrouping. However, Palladino was able to find the floor to tie things before the ball went into the net on a rally for Desert Mountain, giving Centennial a 13-12 lead.

Desert Mountain would battle back to take a 15-13 lead, but it would be shortlived, as consecutive errors would tie the set. Junior Kaia Mendez-Winston had a huge block on the following play to give Centennial the lead and setting the Coyotes up for a 6-0 run. Now trailing 21-15, Desert Mountain called a timeout.

The Wolves weren’t going down without a fight, coming back to cut Centennial’s lead to 23-20 and force them to call a timeout. Desert Mountain was nearly able to pull off the rally, but fell just short, as a blcok from Palladino closed out the match, giving Centennial a 25-23 win and a 3-1 victory over Desert Mountain.

“Fourth set, I’m crazy proud of them for being able to come down with those points and fight all the way back and make it 25-23,” Coach McNamara said.

It was a tough way for the season to come to a close, but McNamara feels strongly about the girls she has returning next season and the potential ahead.

“I’m super excited,” Coach McNamara said. “Both of our setters are a freshman and a sophomore, so they’re really young ... Kennedy, our main setter this year is a freshman and she’s new to Arizona. She has almost 500 assists just from running a 6-2 all season long, which is really comparable to teams that are running 5-1s ... She’s crushing it right now.”

Meanwhile for Centennial, they’ll wait to see who they play when the brackets get released on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.

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.