Andrew Lwowski is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Vista High School for AZPreps365.com.

 

PHOENIX -- The Desert Vista High School ladies could not find an answer to Corona del Sol’s quick and nimble attack on Wednesday night as they lost to the current number-one ranked divisional opponent. Outside hitter Kylie Moran and libero Kate Morin, both captains, pushed to bring their team back into the match, but the Thunder's mistakes proved costly.

The Aztecs swept the Thunder 25-17, 25-22 and 25-11 while first year head coach Audra Slemmer and the Thunder are now faced with cleaning up their game. Corona del Sol came out guns blazing in the first set, taking a commanding 23-12 lead before a small resurgence by the Thunder. In the second set the Thunder and Aztecs traded point for point until Corona took control late by feeding outside hitter Sydney Meyer. The Thunder appeared defeated in the third set well before the Aztecs reached the nail-in-the-coffin point 25.

“We kind of go on a roller coaster,” Moran said. “We dip up and down with our energy. When we’re on a high, it’s not a problem, but when we’re on our lows after trailing by like three points, we get sluggish.”

Being a co-captain, Moran admitted that the Thunder need to fix their energy level to help themselves when their opponent goes on a scoring run. “I try to pick up the energy a lot more, constantly talk to them (her teammates)," said Moran. "Our outsides are juniors, so they’re younger, and we need to have more of a positive attitude toward them instead of correcting them.”

Morin, the leader of the Thunder defense, said they struggled hitting past the daunting Aztecs blocks. “We talked a lot, they just had a really big block and we couldn't figure out a way to hit around it,” Morin said. “We tried to tell them spots where they could go (to avoid the block).”

Morin acknowledged that they also routinely targeted the Corona libero, Angie Bour, on serves and hits despite her being one of the top defensemen in the state. “I’m not sure why," said Morin. "It was definitely a mistake."

The Aztecs notched seven total blocks defensively and eight serving aces while the Thunder seemingly had no answer for the Aztec offense as they surrendered 32 total kills. These are valuable points the Thunder can take back through practice and communication, the theme of the night. Moran finished her night with 15 kills while Morin compiled 21 digs in three sets. 

Audra Slemmer replaced Molly West, who coached for 26 years and led the team to state championships in 2014 and 2015 at the Ahwatukee area school. Slemmer will now take on the task of carrying the Desert Vista women's volleyball standards.

“We’ve been struggling with blocking this season,” Slemmer said. “I think especially with teams that are faster on offense. Tonight, the middles and the pins were the fastest we’ve seen and so we’re still trying to adapt by speeding up our blocking, making sure we’re closing the block, pressing and they used that to their advantage on the other team tonight.”

To pair with the unsuccessful blocking, the Thunder hitters found adversity in hitting to specific zones past the Aztec blockers. “It’s a lack of communication, that’s another thing that we’ve been working on,” Slemmer added. “We’ve been working on the defense and our libero trying to communicate to our hitters where to hit.

"The defense should yell to the hitter what zone to hit to avoid the block and where there are gaps in the opposing team's defense," Slemmer added. "I think we see it at points in the match, but it’s not consistent enough to make it a game strength.”

Now 8-8 overall and 2-2 in divisional play, Desert Vista will focus on fixing its miscues as it hosts Mesa Desert Ridge High School on Thursday and travels to Scottsdale Horizon for a neutral tournament match on Friday.