Perry volleyball suffered a short stay in the 6A state tournament in 2021. The Pumas were the #3 seed, but dropped their first-round match to #14 Queen Creek in five sets. The Pumas possessed high hopes of a longer run and possibly a third consecutive trip to the conference title match.

Perry again was a high seed Thursday night in the first round of the 2022 6A tourney where it hosted Desert Vista. This time Perry took care of business handily. The fourth-seeded Pumas eliminated the 13th-seeded Thunder in three sets -- 25-13, 25-23, 25-17 at Dan Serrano Gymnasium.

Perry (32-8) moves on to Tuesday's quarterfinals. Desert Vista finished its season 21-15. The Pumas will host #5 Sandra Day O'Connor, which rallied to edge #12 Highland in five sets. O'Connor finished runner-up in 6A to Hamilton last season. 

Perry's attack was spread nicely among outside hitters Avery Burks (15 kills) and Isa Blackwell (10 kills) and middle Kenna Cogill (10 kills). Junior Lily LaFlesch, pressed into duty for under-the-weather libero Braelyn Woodworth, contributed a team-high 17 digs. Middle Reese Biesemeyer checked in with five blocks. Unofficial attack leaders for Desert Vista - Neyah Davison (7 kills), Amiyah White (6 kills) and Hayden Conner (5 kills).

Perry set the tone with its decisive win in the first set. The Pumas were challenged the first half of the set with the scored tied at 11. In their 14-2 run to finish the set, Burks had three kills, Biesemeyer two kills and a block and aces were served by Avery Stones and Reagan Reynolds.

Desert Vista didn't trail in the second set until Perry pecked away and went ahead, 18-17. The set was tied one more time (20-all), but Burks had three kills and Cogill two as the Pumas eked out the win. The final set saw Perry snap a 5-5 tie with a 14-5 run. Desert Vista got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.