Independence was in no mood to play another five-gamer with Willow Canyon.

Immediately after it took the floor for the 4th game Tuesday night, Independence grabbed command of the volleyball match as well as its region. The postseason, if Independence keeps winning, is within reach for a program that needs to dust off its record books to learn when it last won a region title and earned a playoff berth.

The Glendale school dispatched Willow Canyon, 25-22, 17-25, 25-20, 25-19, to avoid a first place Central Region tie and fourth straight 5-set match with Willow Canyon. Independence is one of this year’s surprising stories not just in girls volleyball but in an Arizona high school fall season that’s been packed with pandemic news.

But the program is giving its school and long-time coach Michelle Monaghan plenty of reasons to smile behind their masks. Monaghan planned to retire after the previous school year, but a parent, Sharon Dykstra, Monaghan's stat keeper and videographer, convinced her to return for a final hurrah.

“They are all seniors except for one sophomore and one freshman,” said Monoghan about her team. “They just mesh. They come together. They love each other. When that happens it makes a big difference. We don’t have anybody that’s an outcast, and they all get along.”

Sharon's daughters, Railey and Raechelle, the lone freshman, are leading the way with their offensive production for Independence (8-1 overall, 5-0 region).

But the Dykstra sisters aren’t the only contributors, as Willow Canyon found out.

The first game was the best game of the match. Neither team led by more than two points in that frame until Willow Canyon went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 19-15. But Independence answered with a 6-0 run of its own and didn’t trail after that in Game 1.

Independence captain Anaya Rodriguez caught Willow Canyon off guard late in the first game and throughout the match with her shoot passes over the net to open spots. That first game was highlighted by a long rally that ended with a Raechelle kill with two blockers up, putting her team up 22-20.

During the rally, Jordyn Kellick and Maddox Richtmyre somehow came up with two great digs for Willow Canyon (5-4 overall, 3-2 region). The game ended with a block by Railey and Alejandra Ramirez.

“We trust each other,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve talked about winning region. This is a good team and we are trying to fulfill that. We’re close.”

Up 12-10 in the Game 2, Willow Canyon pulled away behind the play of the hard-hitting Kellick, who had six kills in the game.

The third game was punctuated by the play of the Dykstra sisters, who accounted for 12 of their team’s third game points. Independence jumped out to 7-1 and 17-9 leads in the final game, but Willow Canyon’s Amaya Thomas helped her team get within four points late in the game with her play in the middle.

But Ramirez picked the right time to collect her first kill, and a Willow Canyon passing error and Railey cross court blast ended the match.

After the match was over, Independence sang happy birthday to the Dykstras’ youngest sister, Reyna, and Railey showed off her athleticism with a couple of backward somersaults. Keep playing like it did Tuesday, and the celebrating will likely continue for Independence.