Horizon fells Desert Mountain for 2nd straight 5A-II title

November 10, 2010 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


The theme of the 5A and 4A girls volleyball championships Tuesday and Wednesday -- multipeats.

Tuesday it was Sunnyslope and Seton Catholic picking up threepeats in 4A-I and 4A-II, respectively. On Wednesday Horizon stayed in step.

The Huskies repeated as 5A-II champs in the swan song for 5A-II volleyball with a 25-27, 2521, 28-26, 22-25, 15-13  triumph over Desert Mountain at Gilbert Mesquite High.

Horizon coach Valorie McKenzie waited 30 years to garner her first state title last year and this one  felt just as good as her melting-pot lineup of starting players (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior) played a solid, never-say-die match from start to finish. It was the third time in four meetings this season Horizon (30-9) prevailed over Desert Mountain (27-11).

"I thought we could come back in the last game even when it was 12-8," McKenzie said. "These girls never give up. They are so coachable. They wouldn't give in."

Freshman outside hitter Sierra Nobley had three kills in the final four points Horizon scored, including match point that sent McKenzie running to the floor as fast as her players to celebrate.

Horizon looked like it was on its way to victory in game four building a 10-3 lead after winning a tight, tense game 3, 28-26. But with junior Rheanna Sorenson serving well, the Wolves put  together a streak that knotted the score at 10. The Wolves went on to win and force game 5 to make it a two-hour match.

Horizon called time in the final game, down 12-8 and was able to regroup.

"I was nervous the last part of the last game," Horizon senior middle Melissa Hess said. "We had come this far, we had to give it our all to try and win it. Taking it back-to-back is awesome."

McKenzie praised Desert Mountain effort, which gave Horizon fits the entire match.

"We weren't playing badly," McKenzie said. "Theire block was outstanding all night.  It just came down to the last few points.We had a lot of different players in from last year, and they came together beautifully."