Sammy Nute is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Valley Christian High School for AZPreps365.com

As defending 3A State Girls Volleyball champions, the Valley Christian Trojans wanted to begin their season with heavier competition. After already playing one game against rival Snowflake, the Trojans looked to take on several higher division schools in the Tournament of Champions Friday and Saturday in Mesa.

The Trojans started the weekend hot, going undefeated in four games on Friday, all against higher division opponents. But Valley Christian slowed down on Saturday, losing all three games – including its sole knockout game of the tournament against 6A Corona Del Sol. Despite the rough Saturday, first-year head coach Tyler Trathen said he is proud of the way his girls played.

“We played good quality programs which is what we want,” Trathen said. “We want to battle every single time, and I think we did that today.”

The Trojans, led by senior middle blocker Kate Phillips and senior outside hitter Korah Nordin, started the weekend off hot against 5A Desert Mountain, winning in straight sets, 25-12, 25-15. Phillips led the team with 11 kills on a solid .308 hitting percentage.

The next game against 6A Centennial was a little bit more stressful for Valley Christian as, after winning the first set 25-13, the Trojans blew an early six-point lead at the beginning of the second set, losing the set 25-23. Then, the third set was back and forth with the Trojans eventually coming out on top, 18-16. In the third set, the Trojans relied on their two stars, Phillips and Nordin. The two seniors were the 3A State Beach Volleyball champions as a pair this last spring, but their friendship goes back way farther than that.

“We both played for a long time and have been best friends for a long time, so our chemistry on the court works really well,” Nordin said. “I think we kinda’ have the calmness while also bringing the energy to the team.”

The rest of Friday the Trojans handled business, winning in straight sets over both Mountain Ridge and Arizona College Prep to finish the first-day pool play 4-0, in prime position for a playoff spot come Saturday.

Saturday morning, the Trojans played two close games against 6A schools against Mountain View and Gilbert. Valley Christian controlled the game against Mountain View but after a second-set injury to Phillips, the Trojans were unable to recover, losing in three sets (26-24, 19-25, 10-15).

Against Gilbert, and Phillips back on the court, the Trojans lost in two close sets, 25-23 and 26-24, setting the 3A champions up with a battle against Tempe powerhouse Corona Del Sol in the first round of the gold bracket playoffs, where only the top 12 teams of 36 advanced.

Playing the seventh game in a little over 24 hours, the Trojans were unable to take down eventual champion Corona losing in two sets (25-12, 25-18). Despite the tough loss, Valley Christian made it a goal to keep the energy up in the second set, according to sophomore middle blocker Ellie Stuber.

“You go into a game thinking it’s a good team and once you’re in there you are like, “Wow we can keep up with them,” and keeping that high energy helps you build confidence,” Stuber said.

Overall, the Trojans finished 4-3 on the weekend against teams two or three divisions higher than them. Phillips is happy with the way her team performed and she said she thinks that they left by sending a good message.

“I love our results,” Phillips said. “I think we played really hard and last year we played in a tournament with 2A, 3A and 4A schools and we won the tournament and we wanted more of a challenge. I think we made these 6A schools think twice about playing us.”

The Valley Christian Trojans (4-3) will continue their season with a match Monday, September 12, at American Leadership Academy - Ironwood.