Joshua Weisbly is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arcadia High School for AZPreps365.com

The home crowd and bench roared at Arcadia High School as the Titans took home another victory on Thursday after beating the Dysart High School Devils and improving to 5-1 on the season.

The latest win for Arcadia came after the team had won their previous four games, with three of the four games being won handily, winning all three sets against opponents.

Last year the team had struggled against the Devils losing 1-3, but this year the Titans were able to avenge their loss from the previous season.

“Yeah, that feels really good, last year it was really bad, we were just not playing at all. So it feels really good to be able to come out and win the way that we did tonight,” senior Titans captain Zora Carrier said.

From the get-go of the first match, the Titans got off to a strong offensive start against the Devils. The solid offensive play helped carry them to a 25-5 win in the first set.

The Titans benefited from having eight returning players this season, but serving was also key in the game against Dysart.

“I think we’re getting a little bit more comfortable playing together so that’s been helping. The biggest thing is we’ve been working a lot on our serving, and our serving was really good again tonight.” Arcadia head coach Jackie Bunker said. “Whenever we have a nice serving game, it allows us to get the team out of system and then it just makes everything easier for our side.”

There were some miscues from the Titans. Hitting the ball out of play slowed the offense in the second set, but the errors did not stop the Titans from taking the second set 25-10.

The third set started off with a couple of errors from the Devils, which gave the Titans an early lead. They would not relinquished that lead, winning the third and final set 25-11, and getting the sweep against Dysart.

For the Titans, this marked their fifth straight win on the season.

“It feels really good actually. This team, last year, we didn't do that good, but this year, it was a really good result, and we’re really happy with that,” Zora Carrier said.

Throughout the game, the Titans seemed to be clicking on all cylinders and their offense was able to carry them to their 3-0 win.

“Honestly, everything,” Carrier said, on what was working for the team. “All of our hitters were connecting really well, both of our setters, and then we were just getting the passes to be able to run the offense really well. So I think everything was just working out exactly how it was supposed to.”

This game marked the end of three consecutive days with a game for the Titans, with the two previous being away games at Apache Junction and Poston Butte. 

“I think we’ve faced some challenges over our last couple matches, but something that’s really different about this year is how we’ve come back from it, last year I don’t think we would have had the same perseverance,” senior captain Grace Eubanks said.

Coach Jackie Bunker also had input on being able to finish this stretch of games as a home game for the Titans.

“It was actually nice I think to end at home and not have to go on the road again today. So I think the girls were a little bit more relaxed not having to go on a long road trip,” said Bunker.

The next matchup for Arcadia is Desert Edge on Tuesday.