By Kaci Demarest

Sunnyslope’s girl volleyball team struggled to claim a 3-1 sectional victory at Boulder Creek High School Tuesday during Senior Night.

Sunnyslope generally runs a high-powered offense that is hard to stop, but Boulder Creek managed to take advantage of Sunnyslope’s lackluster performance.

“Personally, I don’t feel like our team is playing our ball game right now,” Sunnyslope head coach Amber LeTarte said. “We’ve been playing off for the last two nights and it shows because there’s a lack of enthusiasm, lack of energy and focus.”

During the first set, the Jaguars kept pace with the Vikings for the majority of the first half of the set. Sunnyslope managed to take a substantial lead after going on a nine-point rally lead behind junior Miranda Bacon’s serving.

On defense, seniors Libby Fleury and Katie Oleksak kept the front lines moving as they led the team in blocks.

Sunnyslope closed out the first set with an ace from senior Tatiana Johnson to make it 25-18.

The second set featured a slower Viking defense, and the Jaguar's offense took advantage of it. Early errors and communication issues by Sunnyslope allowed Boulder Creek to run within two points during the first half of the set.

The turning point of the second set came when senior Emma Wright got a kill. Senior Sarah Martinez then managed to propel the team through on serves for a seven-point rally, giving the Vikings a 16-9 lead.

Sunnyslope was able to keep the momentum going and claimed the second set 25-22. The third set featured a different tone compared to the first two sets.  

Boulder Creek put on a show in the third set to keep the match alive, jumping out to a 10-2 lead that Sunnyslope couldn’t scramble back from.

“We left our offense alone and tried to take Sunnyslope out of their offense,” Boulder Creek head coach Drew deLeon said. “Our game plan was to serve aggressive, take them out of their system, to slow down their middle and outside hitters.”

Senior Rachel Kjolberg led Boulder Creek in kills during the third set to help the Jaguars take advantage of Sunnyslope.

“We knew it was going to be a hard team to beat,” Kjolberg said. “It was our last night on this court so we knew there was nothing to lose, so we just played our hardest.”

Kjolberg said the team played great defense, especially against Wright.

Despite Boulder Creek’s efforts in a 25-11 victory in the third set, Sunnyslope came back to tie up the match in the fourth set. Wright led Sunnyslope’s offense with five kills in the fourth set.

The combined kills from Wright and blocks by Fleury and Oleksak provided a lethal dose of Sunnyslope volleyball.

Sunnyslope closed out the fourth set with a score of 25-12.

This was the first meeting between the squads since this season marks the first time that Sunnyslope has been in Division I.

“It’s been a little different,” LeTarte said. “There have been no games where you can just relax and take off. We used to get away with more playing some teams, but now you can’t get away with much.”

Throughout the season, Sunnyslope has dominated the majority of its competition, generally winning in four sets or less.  The only teams they’ve lost to this year have been Gilbert High School and Xavier College Preparatory.

Both teams have their final regular season games Oct. 29. Sunnyslope plays at Mountain Ridge High School while Boulder Creek’s final regular game is at Horizon High School.

Following their final regular season games, Sunnyslope will move on to the first round of the playoffs.

“There’s no more talking about it,” LeTarte said. “We have to do what we’re saying. We have to go out and play strong.”

Kaci is a sophomore at Arizona State University majoring in Sports Journalism. She co-hosts Double X Sports, a talk show about women's sports, on college radio station Blaze Radio. After college, she aims to work as an on field sports broadcaster.

Twitter: @Kaci_Demarest