Carly Lowry knew her team had their quarterfinal match won against Mesquite from the start. Everything was in place. Teamwork. Support. Momentum.

With nine kills in the first set, nine more in the second and four in the third, Lowry led No. 4 Salpointe to a 3-0 sweep over No. 12 Mesquite at home Thursday night. The win also sends the Lancers to the Division II semifinals against No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday.

But, still, Lowry credits her teammates.

"We are all so united. I knew we had it from the beginning," Lowry said. "Peyton (Lewis) and I have connected really well and I couldn't do what I do without knowing Alanna (Duarte) is behind me."

Mesquite took an early 5-1 lead in the first set and it looked like the Wildcats were riding the same wave that swept them over No. 5 Ironwood Ridge on Tuesday night. That straight-set upset in the first round was a shocker and it was fueled by taking advantage of numerous Nighthawk mistakes and by the play of senior Brianna Hawkins.

Hawkins came down with a severe ankle sprain in the second set of that win but she stayed in the match to the end and then got the start Thursday at Salpointe.

Her 11 kills against Ironwood Ridge were devastating. Unstoppable. Her nine kills at Salpointe were equally big but they weren't nearly enough to overcome the Lancer attack and Salpointe ran away with the first set 25-13.

"We turned our program around and our team has been on the rise since my sophomore year," Hawkins said with her ankle wrapped in ice after the match. "Just making it this far. We have never done that before."

Hawkins is in the process of completing her college recruitment to play for Southern and her teammate, junior hitter Jordan Schumacher, will soon be on her way to play for New Orleans.

Schumacher finished with 16 kills and is just shy of 500 on the year. She kept the Wildcats alive in the second set but the Lancer machine pulled out a tough 25-22 win despite seven scores from Schumacher including two kills to cut Salpointe's lead down to 23-22.

It looked like the Lancers were going to blow the Wildcats out in the third set after building a 9-2 lead but Hawkins came alive and recorded two kills and two blocks to pace Mesquite to a 7-0 run to tie it up 9-9.

But the Wildcats could never quite get over the hump. Kiley Tonge served an ace to cut Salpointe's lead down to 22-21 but Salpointe closed it out 25-21.

Carlos Flys took over a struggling Mesquite program and turned it into a power in just three years. He felt a sense of accomplishment for his seniors.

"When we beat Ironwood Ridge we came in not knowing what to expect and we played with joy," Flys explained. "Then reality set in and we came up a against a great Salpointe team.

"But our seniors have had a great ride. They were key to turning this program around. I am happy for them and we have great players coming back," he added.

Mesquite made it to the semifinal round in 2004 after knocking Whitney Dosty and Salpointe out of the playoffs in the quarterfinal round earlier in the day that year. At that time the quarterfinal round was the third round.

The Lancers never really recovered and only made it out of the first round a few times since that day. That all ended Thursday night when Lowry came through and delivered on something that even Dosty was unable to do. A trip to the semifinal round.

Heather Moore-Martin is in her third year at Salpointe after taking the Catalina girls to a runner-up finish in 2011. She has built an incredible 34-5 record this year.

"These girls totally support each other. They are all about doing what's best for their teammates," Moore-Martin explained on the difference with this team.

"We can count on Carly for doing what she did tonight. She has chosen to do a lot of things she needs to do before she plays for San Francisco and she has worked hard."

Lowry will play both sand and indoor in college and she has improved her game tremendously according to Moore-Martin.

As for a rematch with Notre Dame?

"They are the same team we lost to last year," she pointed out. "Not much different. If we play our game and not get caught up in the hype then we should do well."

Notre Dame defeated Salpointe 3-0 in quarterfinal round last year.

Lowry had eight digs to go with her 22 kills. No other Lancer had more than four kills. Lewis finished with 32 assists and Duarte had 13 digs.

Payten Russo had 18 assists for Mesquite.

Salpointe finished in second place in 1970 under Waldine Cormier.