The Ironwood girls volleyball team’s effort fell short in a tough 3-0 loss to host Sunrise Mountain on Thuesday night.

The Eagles got off to a slow start, letting the Mustangs take a five-point lead and forcing head coach Lisa Lopez to call for a timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout tallying four consecutive points, settling in before hitting another rough patch and ultimately falling, 25-14.

The second set was evenly matched in the early going. Ironwood’s libero, Mallory Rich, had an outstanding play saving an out-of-bounds pass, but struggles soon surfaced again for the Eagels. Lopez called for a timeout, but it did not have the same effect it did in the first set. The Eagles were not able to catch up and lost the second set, 25-15.

The Mustangs started the third set with a three-point lead, but the Eagles got those three points right back. The Mustangs scored eight consecutive points until Lopez had enough and called another timeout. The Eagles were never able to come back, dropping the set 25-10.

“Personally, I think Sunrise came out better because they gave more effort,” Rich said. “I think we lacked that a lot tonight.”

Rich said the Mustangs were running a faster offense, and she thinks their front row was having a hard time adapting to that.

“When we run the ball quicker … it works,” Lopez said. “We need to keep working on our serve receive because when we get that good first pass, it helps our setters and it definitely helps our hitters.”

The team has dropped three straight games.

“We played three amazing tough teams this week, and we are going to look back at the game film and take away the positives so that we can push forward,” Lopez said.

The Eagles are 0-2 in the 5A Northwest region, but they still have a handful of games to improve.

“I feel like we need to work on our mental game before anything else,” outside hitter Mya Jones said.

As a captain, Jones feels it is her responsibility to encourage her teammates and not let them get down.

“We need her to be positive and everybody to be positive," Lopez said. "It just helps everyone come together and mesh.”

The Eagles have a 12-day stretch until their next regional game at home on Oct. 8 against Centennial High, and the Ironwood girls will be looking to grab their first region win then.

Coming out of that long break, Rich believes they will be coming out “super strong and athletic."

“We are going to go all out against Centennial,” she said.