Gabriella Salguero is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sierra Linda High School for AZPreps365.com

For the first time this season, Sierra Linda’s girls volleyball team reached five sets in a home game Tuesday night and won it, snapping Desert Sunrise’s four-game win streak. 

After trailing 2-1, Sierra Linda’s dramatic comeback resulted in set scores of 25-17, 22-25,12-25, 25-15, 15-11.

“Set one we are feeling really confident, sets two and three we lost, so it's like ‘what do we do,’ and dealing with that is something we’ve been working on the entire season,” Bulldogs coach Alysa Wertz said.

The momentum of the game changed numerous times in favor of both teams in different time periods. The game came down to the fifth set.

The fifth set went back and forth until Desert Sunrise called a timeout at a 12-11 score. The play set up by the Golden Hawks to take the lead was blocked, which started up the final momentum for the Bulldogs to take the fifth set, 15-11.

For the close-fought match, Sierra Linda outscored Desert Sunrise, 99-93.

“We usually do film study,” Golden Hawks coach Gabe Jenkins said. “We studied Sierra Linda and we knew they were going to be a challenge for us, and we were hoping to come out with a victory.”

Although the Golden Hawks fell short, the team averaged 18 points per set. Each game is a learning experience for the team as it is their first time playing at the varsity level.

“I think we really need to work on talking and starting strong from the beginning,” Golden Hawks outside hitter Savannah Edmonson said. 

Edmonson finished with eight kills.

“Getting in your own head never fixes anything and it never helps you,” Golden Hawks middle blocker Jasell Holbert said.

Holbert averaged 1.4 kills per set. 

They were not the only duo that made an impact in the game. The Bulldogs’ Debanhi Aguiar and Stacy Perez shined throughout the game with a combined 26 kills.

“When we work together my confidence goes up because we look clean, we play as a team, and we feel it,” Perez said.

Perez had eight kills with three of them coming in the fifth set, showing her impact on the game during that final set.

Aguiar, the Bulldogs’ team captain, had 18 kills, including six in the first set and five in the fourth that helped secure a game-tying victory heading into the fifth set.

“I don’t think we were ever thrown off,” Aguiar said. “It makes us more motivated to beat them and we fight for every point.”

Instead of tearing each other down after the third set, they motivated each other to do better and fix their mistakes. The Bulldogs came together to collect their thoughts during every timeout they took.

“I told the girls it's nothing we can’t handle,” Perez said. "Even though we lost two sets, we still fought for what we wanted and that was our win."

Desert Sunrise (5-2) will head to the Epic Tourneys Girls Volleyball Invite at the ASU-Student Fitness Center on Friday and at the Aspire Volleyball Gym on Saturday.