Hamilton's girls volleyball team must be playing good defense when its overall record is 17-1 and the Huskies have won 44 of 46 sets this season.

Knowing full well that powerful Xavier led by outside hitter Khalia Lanier was going to get its share of kills, Hamilton simply strove to make rthe Gators work and work some more as it dove and lunged in the back row from start to finish Tuesday night.

Ultimately the defensive clinic the Huskies put on produced a 25-23, 25-18, 26-24 sweep of the Gators as two of the top programs in Division I played a shorter than expected match at Hamilton High.

"We were looking to try to contain Khalia," Hamilton coach Sharon Vanis said. "You're not going to stop her. She's still going to terminate. I certainly didn't expect a sweep. We've never swept them until tonight. We've played well so far. Tonight we were  balanced in everything."

Hamilton (9-0 in power-ranking matches) and Xavier (13-2 overall, 7-1 prm) jockeyed for the lead all through the first set with each team taking a three-point lead at one point. Hamilton led 20-17, but surrendered four successive points to lose the lead. Xavier led 23-22, but lost the set without putting up a fight. Hamilton tied the set at 23 as Xavier failed to communicate on a return. The Gators followed that up with a double-hit violation to set up set point and the Huskies obliged with an ace from Lostumo.

Hamilton got a little bit of a break about midway through the third set when Lanier had to exit with a sore right ankle. Lanier missed about half the set. She left the court with Xavier up 11-8 and managed to return with the final set tied at 21. Like the first set, Xavier led 23-22, but didn't get the chance to serve for set point. After a Lanier kill tied it at 24, a service error and hitting error by the Gators sent them home early.

Sophomore outside Darian Clark, the newcomer to Hamilton's starting lineup this season, paced the attack with 13 kills. Middle blocker Preslie Anderson was next with 10 kills followed by Michaela Zapata (7) and Olivia Hallaran (6). Setter Sydney Lostumo had 23 set assists.

On defense Hamilton had five players collect between 12 and 18 digs (Hailey Babcock, Clark, Zapata,  Lostumo and Hallaran), which put more pressuer on inexperienced Xavier setters Cierra Flood and Shannon Shields. They were subbing for injured standout senior setter Callie Jones. Jones is out four to six weeks with a dislocated finger. Jones has missed three matches since suffering the injury.  Xavier won the other two.

"Tonight we got overwhelmed," Xavier coach Lamar-Renee Bryant said. "Losing our senior setter hadn't been an issue until tonight. Our junior and freshman setters playing in (Jones) place had a tough time."

Bryant said Xavier's confidence was "shot down" quickly in the match, especially the way Hamilton was performing defensively. 

"We self destructed," Bryant said. "Give all the credit to Hamilton. Their defense was outstanding and extended rallies..... It's not total devastation for us. We've lost two matches to really good teams. We just have to do our part  and we'll be fine."

Lanier finished unofficially with 16 kills and middle blocker Makena Patterson added 10 kills. Bryant wasn't sure of Lanier's status going forward, but wouldn't hesitate to keep her out of the lineup Thursday vs. Boulder Creek or this weekend (Friday and Saturday) at the Nike TOC in Phoenix.