Imani Litz bided her time as a varsity backup last year, but has proven more than ready to step up for Cienega this season.

The junior outside hitter was one of the few players on either side Tuesday night to hit with any consistency and her presence was felt in a 22-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20 victory over host Seton Catholic in a Division II match.

"(Imani) is our emotional leader and has a lot of athletiicism," Cienega coach Heather Mott said. "She was steady and the other girls look to her."

Litz led Cienega (6-2 overall, 2-1 power-ranking matches) with 12 kills and added prowess in the back with a team-high 18 digs. Teammates Jorden Norin and Kali Iago added five kills each, and Katilynn Maxon led the block with four. Chipping in on defense with 14 digs was libero Sheridan Wilcock. Cienega started the match sluggishly, but woke up in time after losing the first set to sweep the next three and make the return trip to Vail a pleasant one.

Seton was on a roll in the season's early stages heading into the match having won their first power-ranking match last week and adding a 9-1 mark and runner-up finish at last weekend's Payson Invitational. The Lady Sentinels, under new head coach Patti Schoenhardt, weren't at their best in this one.

"Several players who are upper classmen were off tonight," Schoenhardt said. "We seemed to be in a funk. It wasn't our night.

Seton (10-2) played catch-up nearly the entire match. After falling behind 6-3 in the first set, the Sentinels zoomed to a 23-14 advantage. But at that point their troubles began and effectively never ended. They saw their lead slip to 24-22 and finally managed to win the first set on the fifth set point.

The next three games Cienega took quick leads and led by as many as six or seven points as Seton struggled to get any consistency from its hitting. A strong night blocking by Cienega played into Seton's hitting woes. 

Seton played the fourth set tighter despite trailing throughout and gave it fans some hope as it pulled within 20-18. Two of Seton's numerous hitting errors put it behind by four. Some late hitting success by senior middle Kirsten Companik was too little, too late. Companik and outside hitter Mary Grace Blaser paced Seton with nine kills each unofficially and sophomore opposite Lauren Tewes added seven kills.

Mott was pleased to see her team collect itself after its slow start and with a warmer-than-usual gym that had some cooling difficulties. That resulted in plenty of fan power to ventilate, which made the venue tough to play in for both sides.

"We couldn't get off the bus, really had a tough time getting going," Mott said. "Even when we were down the first set I told them let's keep trying to win this. We started playing our style and made it easier to transition the rest of the match."