Addison Kalmbach is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Notre Dame Prep High School for AZPreps365.com. 

The Notre Dame Prep girls volleyball team cruised to an easy 3-0 win over Mesquite High School on Wednesday to stay undefeated in conference play. 

Coming into the game as the No. 1 ranked team in 4A, the Saints (19-3 overall) had a rusty start in the first set as they traded service points with the Wildcats (12-13). After a tie game at 4, the Saints picked up their play with two straight kills from senior outside hitter Sophia Ross. Ross was unstoppable in all three sets, lifting her team when it seemed to need an energy boost. She acknowledged the team’s accomplishments with their routine before games. 

“We have the same rituals and same routine before every game and everyone is there and everyone participates,” said Ross, “and I also play for my teammates and we do a moment of silence where I reflect on my day.” 

Going up by two points was all the Saints needed to get their groove back, as they took advantage of Mesquite’s poor defense. Mesquite went on a short run to close the gap, but after a few quick adjustments, the Saints won 25-16. 

The Saints kept rolling in the second set. Sophomore sensation Evan Hendrix came in hot, scoring three straight points for the Saints. Setter Ashleigh Bolton also made several key plays, blocking at the net or finding Ross and Hendrix on the outside, to push them to an easy 25-11 win. 

As the quarterback on the volleyball court, Bolton said she finds her hitters by “looking for a smaller blocker and staying away from significantly larger blockers so that your team does not get blocked. You also have to take into consideration who are your better hitters.” 

The third set was pure domination from Notre Dame Prep. After going down by only one point to begin the set, the Saints went on an incredible scoring run, led by Hendrix. The Wildcats had no answer and had to call for their first timeout of the set down 14-2. Hendrix continued her strong run as she served for 14 of her team's points in the set. She did not accomplish this feat alone, having help from Ross and Bolton and also outside hitter Katherine Malloy. 

Hendrix said she “zoned everyone out and looked at my coach and see what the zone was and I just wanted to put the ball in play. It was very exciting and I do not think I have been on a serving run that long.” 

The Wildcats had trouble all night returning serves and getting blockers in front of Hendrix and Ross, struggling to find anything on offense. The Saints seemed to be everywhere on the court and that threw off Mesquite in more than one way. 

After another victory for the Saints, head coach Holly McLean said, “We have not been able to practice that much recently because we had two tournaments back to back and we needed a lot of rest and recovery.” 

Having state championship dreams, McLean also said that “the crowd is really helping us because the state championship is loud and last year, for instance, they could not hear me at all.” 

Notre Dame Prep continues its season with a visit to Deer Valley on Thursday.