Basha advances to 6A state tourney, tops Chaparral

November 10, 2020 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Basha middle Jayden Eaker (9) opens the match with Chaparral with the first kill. Basha won the match, 3-1, to advance to the 6A tournament. (AzPreps365 photo).

Basha earned the opportunity to defend its 6A girls volleyball title, using a pair of tight wins in sets three and four to defeat Chaparral, 3-1, in a 6A play-in match Tuesday night at Basha High. Scores were 25-14, 14-25, 25-21 and 25-20.

Basha (6-10) learns its first-round opponent at state as will other play-in match winners Wednesday when final rankings for the tournament are revealed at 2 p.m. on the AzPreps365 Volleyball Bracket Show to be streamed live on AzPreps365.com. Chaparral finished its season 6-12.

It's been an up-and-down season for Basha and playing in a region that sports Perry, Hamilton, Xavier Prep and Chandler - all top-10 teams - made things tough for the rebuilding Bears. That inconsistency was on display once again as the Bears looked like world-beaters in the opening set only to seem confounded as Chaparral bounced back to even the match by an indentical score. 

"People that come out to watch us or play against us, don't know what to expect," Basha coach Terri Spann said. "I don't either most of the time. After the second set we got back to playing more like we did the first set. It's been an interesting season."

Basha found the most consistency from junior right-side/outside hitter Megahn OMeara. O'Meara notched a match-high 15 kills with a solid hitting percentage of .333. O'Meara was impeccable in the first set with seven of her kills leading an easy victory. Junior outside hitter Chloe Murakami checked in with 12 kills as did senior outside hitter Jayden James. James had eight of her kills in the third and fourth sets and Murakami steady across the match.

Basha played without senior libero Haley Carrington, the lone returning starter from last year's title team. Carrington has been in quarantine after close contact with a COVID-19 classmate.

"We really miss her leadership," Spann said.

Chaparral rebounded nicely from a rout in the opening set with its young team coming back strong in the second. Coach Chad Speer used a a lineup of five sophomores, a freshman and a couple juniors. The Firebirds traded one- and two-point leads consistently in the third set. A service error and two attack errors after they pared a 22-17 deficit to 22-20 was their undoing.

The fourth set was much the same. The set was even at 17 after a Chaparral service error. Basha produced a 6-0 run for breathing room thanks to an ace from sophomore setter Kaley Koester, two kills by O'Meara and one each by middle Jayden Eaker and James. O'Mear's final kill and an ace off the bench by Jenesis Branch was good for match point.

"Once we settled after the first set, we played well," Speer said. "The last two sets were close. We had a couple service errors and some erratic swings that cost us."

Other stat leaders from the match were Basha's Koester with 41 assists and sophomore defensive specialist Madeline Malinas with 17 digs playing in three rotations. Chaparral was led on the attack by a trio of players - freshman Aryanna Boldea (nine), sophomore Clare Palin (eight) and sophomore Maci Cribbins (seven).