Defending Division I girls volleyball champ Desert Vista played like a champion Tuesday night in handing Hamilton its first power-ranking loss of the season taking a four-set triumph at Hamilton HS. Scores were 25-19, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-20.

Both schools returned to the court after playing well this past weekend at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix. They qualified for the elite bracket at the TOC with Desert Vista (24-3 overall, 9-2 power-ranking matches) finishing third and Hamilton (23-3, 9-1) taking fifth with 6-1 records for two days worth of matches. Desert Vista lost to eventual elite bracket winner Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) while Hamilton fell to eventual runner-up P.K. Yonge (Gainesville, Fla.).

Entering Tuesday's match the most recent power rankings had Hamilton No. 1 while Desert Vista was No. 5. The current rankings are pretty much right on with Hamilton, No. 2 Xavier, No. 3 Gilbert, No. 4 Sunnyslope and Desert Vista in the hunt for the 2015 crown. That quintet has taken turns beating each other and this night it was Desert Vista's time to shine in a top-five matchup.

"It was a high-level match," Desert Vista coach Molly West said, ready for her team and herself to take a break the rest of the week to enjoy the rest of their fall break. "We played very well. Did a nice job blocking and playing defense. We've been working on our blocking."

Junior outside hitter Hailey Dirrigl led a trio of Thunder in double figures in kills with 16, followed by senior opposite Olivia Fairchild with 15 kills and senior outside hitter Hailey Harward with 13 kills. It was big night for the Thunder's middles as Rachael Kramer produced seven kills and seven blocks and Shea Landeene added six blocks. Fairchild and Harward came through with double-doubles chipping in 18 and 14 digs, respectively. Libero Kendall Glover was all over the court with a team-high 30 digs.

Desert Vista' block was particulary outstanding the first two sets when the Thunder pretty much dominated play. Desert Vista never trailed in either set and often frustrated Hamilton's attack at the net and in the back row with plenty of digs. Desert Vista got plenty of offense from four players while Hamilton had to rely heavily early on middle Preslie Anderson (19 kills). Anderson got a little more help as the match wore on from sophomore outside Darian Clark (17 kills),, but overall  Desert Vista's play was a notch better than Hamilton.

"We got a little tight in the third set," West said. "They were playing better, and started hitting the corner. A good adjustment on their part.  The last two sets were close."