Mirabella Miranda is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Country Day for AZPreps365.

After a hard-fought win against Valley Lutheran in the Desert Classic last week, Phoenix Country Day School expected a close match Thursday..

“We were kinda scared because we thought this was going to go to five [sets],” said senior Ellie Rink.“We were saying before we gotta do it in four.''

The Eagles did it in three.

PCDS (8-2) had extreme focus during its warmup en route to its third straight win.

The momentum helped the Eagles dominate all three sets, 25-13, 25-13, 25-21. 

“We started off strong on every set tonight,” said sophomore Alex Goldstein.

The Eagles wanted to step up their game after playing Valley Lutheran over the weekend.

The key to their success was letting their opponent make the mistakes.

“Once we took care of free balls and our errors the game just went so much smoother for us,” said coach Kat Glaeseman.

The Eagles didn’t let a lot of balls hit the floor which left Valley Lutheran visibly frustrated.

“We really made smart plays,” said freshman Ellie Bartolino.

Phoenix Country Day’s hunger for a win and communication was also a huge factor.

“We all were really aggressive and we all really wanted to get the ball,” said Bartolino. 

The entire team, including junior Hannah Drewitz, had tons of kills and hits that brought the crowd to its feet.

“We could play off their energy, get more kills, and play even more off their energy,” said Glaeseman.