Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

The Titans of Chandler Prep continued their winning streak, hosting the Falcons of Veritas Prep on Friday, October 2 and winning in three games. The Falcons proved to be the Titan’s most difficult opponent to date, putting up the most points against the Titans with 22 in the third game. Senior Ellie Unruh, part of the Titan’s power at the net with eight kills said this about the opponent:

“I thought they were good, but I also thought we put up some good competition against them and overall, just played really well.”

Friday’s match did have some increasingly tough competition with final scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-22. Though it took longer than normal, the Titans still obtained the first major lead in all three games, but the Falcons fought to the end, twice going on a service run near the end of a game to shorten the Titan lead. Head Coach Jones said this:

“We’re just playing a better team, so when you get a team towards the end of a set, they really just want to play harder, they dig a lot more, and they have a lot more energy, so we did ok afterwards—after each of our timeouts—of coming out and finishing the game strong.”

Chandler Prep again relied on Unruh and the rest of the majority senior line up to lead and be a threatening front line. Seniors Evi Yates and Olivia Cadien both scored ten kills over Veritas at the net, with Yates also exceling defensively with seven blocks. Senior setter Holly Gialketsis continued to assist the Titan hitters as well as scoring the game winning point in the first and third game with two unexpected setter dumps. Gialketsis also went on a seven-point service run in the second game. Coach Jones thinks the team’s leadership is their strongest quality:

“I think with our six seniors, especially our two captains, they do a good job leading the team in these types of situations to make sure all the girls are on the same page”

Throughout Friday’s game, both teams often succeeded to keep a rally going with impressive digs and third hit saves. With Senior Cassi Bronson back in the libero position for the Titans and Freshman defensive specialist Juliet Mason still on the court as well, however, rallies were not so easily won by the Falcons front line. Bronson also served well for Chandler Prep, going on a six-point run in game three with three aces.

The Titans play their third and final consecutive home game Saturday, October 3 against the Sequoia Charter Stallions at 2:00pm. Titan Up.