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

On Thursday, October 7th, the Chandler Prep Titans faced the San Tan Charter Roadrunners on the road. Despite the lack of energy on the court from the Titans and the Roadrunners surprising ability to receive well against Chandler Prep’s strong hitting line-up, the undefeated Titans still walked away with another three-set victory. Senior hitter Mia Evers had this to say about the challenges of the match:

“They were pretty good at passing, but I think it was mostly on our side with the lack of energy.”

As usual, senior Alyssa Smith was a leader for the Titans as team captain and starting setter. She racked up over 20 assists during the match and scored an ace in every set. Setting up a good kill became very important for the Titans to get points. Several times the Roadrunners were able to receive hits and keep the ball alive until Chandler Prep made an error. Defensively, sophomore libero Juliet Mason also frequently kept the ball alive, putting the Titans in position to score.

In the first set, the Roadrunners led early. Titan senior Alyson Mingus served an ace to take the first Chandler Prep lead of the set at 7-6. San Tan Charter never regained the lead and the Titans won 25-15.

In the second set, tipping dominated both sides offensively with both teams playing closer to the net. The Roadrunners held their lead for much longer, leading for the first half of the set. Mingus got the kill to take the lead 16-15. San Tan Charter regained the lead in two instances after that, but after three offensive errors, the Titans won set two 25-21.

The Chandler Prep Titans took the second set close victory as their wake-up call and San Tan Charter never lead in set three. Head Coach Jones commented on this change:

“I just think we played with more energy. I do think San Tan played really well today. They were digging all of our swings and so mentally we weren’t in the game after they were digging us. We just need to make adjustments when that happens, but I think we started playing better in the third set to counteract San Tan Charter playing so well.”

Junior Zoe Yates led the Titans in kills with four and freshman Abigail Unruh made a strong court appearance with an ace and a couple key kills, including scoring the final point of the match.

The Titans play their next game away against the Horizon Honors Eagles on October 19th at 5:00pm. Titan Up.