Gilbert Classical Academy took a tough loss to Phoenix Christian High School on Thursday in Gilbert.

After coming out strong at the beginning of the first set, Gilbert Classical just couldn’t seem to hold on.

The Spartans were ahead much of the first set until error after error began, and the set ended 25-20 for Phoenix Christian.

But after the first set, the mood seemed to change for the Spartans.

That was when coach Kiana Hiapo reminded her team of who they are and how hard the work in practice.

“Frustrated was one word for it,” GCA junior Savanna Dudas, said. “But I just wanted to channel frustration to the other side because I could see a lot of my teammates were frustrated because I was messing up, and they were messing up, so I just wanted to play for my team, and I wanted to fight.”

The Spartans went into the second set with a different mindset and took the close and intense next set with a 27-25 lead.

But Phoenix Christian beat the Spartans 25-22 on the third set and again 25-14 in the fourth beating out Gilbert Classical and causing some disappointment for the Spartans. But even the loss against Phoenix Christian didn’t stop GCA’s positive energy.

“They had limited errors in which they were scared,” Hiapo said. “It was all about problem solving, dealing with losses and errors and gaining strength in the fact that they are not losers. They are people fighting hard to progress in the face of losing.”

GCA junior Monet Bouchard said the Spartans let their own mistakes get to them.

“We made them (the Cougars) look better than us, so by playing our game it helps bring us back up,” Bouchard said.

Heading into the next game the Spartans hope for a better outcome.

“I think the mindset going into the next game is to take this as a steppingstone and progress from it and not look at it as a loss but rather as something that we can improve upon,” Dudas said.