Agua Fria crashed the potential undefeated volleyball party Verrado and Greenway were likely anticipating in Division III.

Prior to Tuesday’s Verrado-Agua Fria match, Verrado and Greenway were a combined 57-0 and on a collision course to determine a state tournament’s top seed and a section championship. But on Tuesday, Agua Fria inserted itself into the D-III state and Section IV contender script, and did so loudly.

Playing in front of the biggest home crowd in more than a decade, with all the home fans decked in Agua Fria red, the Avondale team pulled off a five set victory over a “fabulous” Verrado (26-1) team that had lost just one set before Tuesday’s two-hour marathon.

“They rose to the occasion,” said coach Stephanie Parker about her Agua Fria team.

Now all D-III stakeholders are likely eyeing the Agua Fria-Greenway Section IV match on Nov. 27 — or maybe not.

To add intrigue to an already interesting section title race, Desert Edge wants in on the Section IV title plans. Desert Edge has only lost one section match, and remaining on its schedule are meetings with Agua Fria and Verrado.

Agua Fria, Desert Edge, Greenway and Verrado were all ranked in the top-11 of the D-III power rankings Thursday morning. 

This year’s Agua Fria Lady Owls bring experience (9 returning players) to the court and the bench with Parker, now in her 11^th year at the helm. But Agua Fria (14-2 overall, 10-0 section) wasn’t playing like a veteran team — that's until Tuesday arrived.

An all-around team performance, propelled by senior captain Morgan Weeg’s 30 kills and sophomore Mariah Monroe’s 51 sets, might indicate that the team is peaking at the right time with two weeks remaining in the regular season. 

“The girls worked together like we knew they could,” Parker said.