Collin Ring is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student who covers Eastmark for AZPreps365.com.

The Eastmark Firebirds on Thursday got off a solid start, taking the first set against talented Gilbert Christian. The Knights, however, dominated the next three sets 25-19, 25-8, 25-18 to improve to 3-1.

In their first varsity season, the Firebirds fell to 3-3. They have five days to prepare for a road match at American Leadership Academy - Ironwood.

Despite Thursday's loss, veteran coach Daniel Arrington has Eastmark poised for success. Arrington, a Gilbert High grad with more than 15 years of coaching experience, looks to develop this young program into something special. He will work with these girls for years to come because eight of the 10 players on Eastmark’s varsity are underclassmen.

After dropping the first set 25-16, Gilbert Christian coach Jenna Haagsma said her team made changes.

“We just focused back in,'' Haagsma said.  "We went back to playing our game. We definitely started kind of slow and so we adjusted and finished playing the way we knew how to play.”

Her conversation with the players sparked her team. Gilbert Christian jumped to a 9-1 lead in the second set. Eastmark rallied to give itself a chance but the rally fell short.  

The Knights continued their strong play in the third set with an 18-2 burst to take control. The final set was hard fought. It went back and forth until the Knights got hot. A 7-7 tie quickly became a 20-12 lead. Eastmark clawed back but Gilbert Christian called timeout, regrouped and closed on a 4-1 run.

Eastmark's Maycee Mercado discusses a questionable call with an official in Set 3.  

“I think we all are progressing throughout practice and I only see the season going up from here,'' Gilbert Christian sophomore Daisy Midthun said. "The main goal is to win the state championship.”

Arrington pointed out Eastmark's youth.

“We played well in the first set,'' he said. "Decent in set two. The third one didn’t go our way and our rally fell short in the fourth set. Our team is extremely young and the majority of our players are freshmen and sophomores who are competing at the varsity level. Obviously, the win would have been nice, but Gilbert Christian has a good team and they fought throughout the whole match.”

The Firebirds play the Knights at home on Oct. 20.