Max Baker is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX -- North High School picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night, defeating Central 25-8, 25-13, 25-18. After starting off the season with six consecutive losses, the Mustangs turned in a complete performance to get in the win column.

Coming into tonight's contest, Mustangs coach Mindy Williams credited the lack of team chemistry to North’s sluggish start.

“They’re great individually but the chemistry on the court has been lacking,” Williams said.

That lack of team chemistry faded away from the match’s first serve, as North didn’t trail until the third set.

One of the reasons for this was North’s exceptional service game. Senior captain Priscilla Ochoa had consecutive aces in all three sets.

Ochoa, who already led the Mustangs in aces coming into Thursday, was able to take over the match with a single serve to help swing the momentum to their favor.

Ochoa said that “focusing on slowing down the ball instead of rushing it” was a large factor in her success on the serve tonight.

Fittingly, the match ended on an Ochoa ace to cap off North’s first win of the season.

Senior setter Alila Castillo also had a pair of aces in tonight’s victory. Castillo, who used to attend Central, said it felt good to beat her old squad.

“Nothing personal. It just felt good to uphold what I left there and show what I still got,” Castillo said.

Despite the victory, the Mustangs still do sit at 1-6 on the year. However, in just one match they tripled their season total in sets won. Castillo credited the entire team’s effort to finally put themselves in the win column.

“For me, it’s trusting my hitters and my back row; trusting that they have my back and trusting my hitters that they’ll be able to hit the ball down and get us that point,” Castillo said.

Before the match, coach Williams said that the team’s defense was one of the team’s biggest strengths. The Mustangs showed off their toughness on the back end from the get-go, as they surrendered just eight points in the first set.

After the Mustangs cruised to a 25-13 victory in the second set, it appeared that Central had no answers to anything North was throwing at them.

But after an extended huddle with coach Laura Phillips between sets, the Bobcats showed signs of life and started the third set with a 5-1 lead. 

That lead would not last long, though, as Ochoa hit a pair of aces on consecutive points which led to the Mustangs tying it up.

The third set was by far the most competitive in the match and stayed that way throughout it. When the score was knotted up at 14 apiece, coach Williams called a timeout, which ended up sparking a Mustangs run.

The Mustangs would score six straight points, which were highlighted by a trio of Castillo aces. The Bobcats attempted a last-second comeback, but it fell short as Ochoa sealed the win with an ace to finish off the sweep of Central, as they took the final set, 25-18.

Up next, North will head to Mesa on Monday to take on Westwood, while Central will head to Greenway High School to take part in the Ceil Billings Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.