Olivia Dowell is ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Xavier College Prep for AZPreps365.com.

The Xavier Prep volleyball team traveled down to Chandler to take on the defending 6A state champions, Hamilton, and the Huskies are also the No. 2 ranked team in 6A for volleyball. The Gators were swept in the match, 3-0.

“Hamilton’s a big team, we’re undersized against them,” head coach Lamar-Renee Bryant said. “So we have to serve and pass at a very high level to be competitive. We did a little bit of a better job in set one, and their swings kind of got us out of system.” 

Coming off a loss to Perry on Tuesday, the Huskies and the Gators kept things very tight in the first set as there were various ties throughout the early moments of the first set. XCP and Hamilton traded points until the Huskies went on a 5-0 run to lead by six, 14-8, until back-to-back kills from senior Emma Soderstrom and senior outside hitter Tiffany Tellez gave the Gators some points.

A quick 3-0 spurt by the Huskies gave them a seven-point lead, 17-10, the largest lead for Hamilton up to this point. To counteract that, the Gators then found ways to come back as they went on a 5-0 run to be back within two late in the set, 18-16, where Tellez had two kills. The Huskies, however, would go on a 7-1 run due to pushes from their offense, and would take the first set 25-17 on a service ace.

“We were a little bit complacent in our playing today and I think that contributed to the scoreboard,” senior setter Alexa Shiner said of the match overall. “Our defense was really good and I thought we were swinging very well but overall it just didn’t feel like it was all coming together.”

To open the second set, Hamilton and XCP remained very close through the early stages but the Huskies began to find stops on offense through their serving and hitting, which contributed to a 7-0 run to give them the advantage over the Gators, 12-4. A kill by senior Emma Caruso stopped the run and the Gators did have some success scoring, but the Huskies jumped out to a ten point lead. The teams traded points throughout the end of the set, but would drop the set, 25-14, on a service error.

The third set was all Hamilton as an 7-0 lead brought them ahead in the third and final set, both with blocking and on offense. XCP was able to get some stops with the Huskies having a couple of errors and a kill by the Gators additionally. Hamilton would go on another 8-0 run to take a 18-3 lead over Xavier. At the end of the set and match, the Gators crafted a 5-0 run of their own that consisted of multiple service aces and kills but would drop the set and match on a kill from Hamilton, 25-13.

“We had nothing to lose, so we just gave it our all,” Shiner said of the third set run. “It was just us putting everything on the floor.”

After facing the defending 6A state champions and a league opponent, Bryant said playing teams with success in the Premier region is beneficial for her team.

“To be the best, you have to beat the best,” Bryant said. “I love being in the Premier region, that’s one of the best for volleyball in Arizona between Perry, Hamilton, ourselves, it’s tough. The state champions the last six years have come from our region, so I’m happy to be a part of the region.”

After competing in the Nike Tournament of Champions this weekend, Xavier College Prep will play its next volleyball match on Wednesday, Oct. 6 versus Sunnyslope at home.