Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

Currently first in the Valley region with a 3-0 record and an 8-2 record overall, the Titan volleyball team took on the Spartans from LEA and played well in a 3-1 victory on Friday, September 27. Chandler Prep relied on veteran leadership from a strong junior class to deliver a strong performance in Friday’s matchup. The Titans were led by junior hitters, Olivia Cadien and Evi Yates with 14 kills apiece. Junior libero, Cassi Bronson and junior setter, Holly Gialketsis served well for the Titans with wicked serves, long runs, and eight aces between them. Cadien said this about the match:

“I think we played pretty well. We had some ups and downs, but we came back. We really played with a lot of energy. We passed great, we were able to put balls down, and we didn’t let their great serves and their good hitter get us down”

The Titans dominated the first set, never giving up their lead, with Gialketsis stringing together a six-point run, in the middle aided by Cadien’s attacks at the net. The Titans endured a long rally for their final point with junior, Ellie Unruh clinching the win with a kill for a 25-19 victory. Leading Edge also fell to the Titans in the second set as Yates gave them trouble keeping the serve for more than two consecutive points. The Titans won 25-18.

The Spartans kept the third set much closer, despite Bronson’s three aces and Gialketsis and Yates pacing the Titans with seven and four kills respectively. The Spartans took the lead in the middle of the set with a four-point run and used a three-point run to win the game 26-24. Head Coach Jones said this about the Spartan performance:

“They did well stopping Olivia. They shut her down a little bit, so we were kind of slow offensively. We made some mental mistakes, but they do a good job defensively and they had a lot of good ups. We can’t be mad about what they did.”

The Titans started out slow in the fourth set, with LEA keeping a small, but steady lead. After a four-point run by Cadien and a three-point run by Bronson, the Titans surged ahead. Chandler Prep never gave up their lead with Senior outside hitter, Marin Scoggin leading the way with five kills. The Titans won 25-11 on a game winning ace by Yates. Coach Jones spoke about what is next after Friday’s victory:

“We’re going to keep getting better. We made some mental mistakes and we had a couple errors that we can fix pretty easily. So, we’ll get the weekend off, we’ll come back Monday, have a good practice, and then we’ll see how we go from there”

The Titans aim to remain undefeated in the region as they go on the road to face the Antelope Union Rams at 6:00 on Tuesday, October 1. Titan Up.