Liam Hamm is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Gilbert Classical Academy for AZPreps365.com

GILBERT - Wow.

Talk about a momentum shift.

The Gilbert Classical Academy Spartans, once owners of a 2-0 set lead, collapsed and lost their 2A Valley Region match to the Miami Vandals in their first home loss in 3 weeks in five sets on Wednesday night.

The Spartans (9-3, 5-1) were on a four-game winning streak and had yet to lose a matchup in their region, while the Vandals (8-4, 3-1) extended their winning streak to three in a 13-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-8 battle. 

“Yeah, we just fell apart,” varsity assistant coach Carol Johnson said after the loss. 

“They were in their heads. It was done… [After Miami took the lead] We could've played 10 sets. There was no coming back from that.”

Despite the loss, GCA had its fair share of elite performers, such as seniors Taylor Perry and Madeleine Matthews, who were a significant part of the Spartans going up 2-0 and taking a 15-8 lead in set three in the first place.

“I definitely needed to be up there just blocking because I’m really tall… I just needed to bring more fire, motivation,” Perry said after her efforts in the match. 

“I feel like we all just started to panic. Like, once we realized they were up by three or four points, we kinda just started to get in our heads and panic and think, ‘Maybe we don’t have this?’ So I think we should just stay in a positive mindset.” 

After the Spartans took a 2-0 lead, they failed to close out the Vandals repeatedly, which led to GCA’s first loss in school history to Miami. 

“They all were starting to make their own errors and it affected the game," said GCA varsity head coach Janie Tomasek. "They got quiet on the court. They didn’t go through what we went through in practice; learning where their empty holes are, being aggressive, we just shut down. 

“They were making too many errors on our side that affected us and the way that we wanted to play.”  

Initially, the Spartans dominated but as the game continued, the team made more errors that it could not afford to make. As the mistakes ensued, the small amount of Miami fans began screaming and cheering louder than GCA’s own fans, which dampened the mood for the Spartans.

“It was the same kids I played in the first game and it was like a whole different six people went on the court… I think they got inside their heads because they were up 2-0 and they realized ‘Okay, this is pretty easy,’” said Tomasek.

The Vandals had players step up when they were facing the possibility of a loss - mainly seniors Gabriella Gonzales and Layla Thompson, as well as both Tamia Pietila and Demetria Dosela, who had incredible serves and high-energy plays to gain momentum and, ultimately, swing the result of the game. 

The close loss knocked GCA out of first place in the 2A Valley Region. The Spartans have just six remaining games and after this game, there is some reason for worry.

In its next match, GCA faces off against Sequoia Pathway Academy on Friday night at 5 p.m.