Kobe King is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Betty H. Fairfax for AZPreps365.com

The Betty H. Fairfax Stampede utilized timely offense to steal all three sets from the Carl Hayden Falcons in Laveen Wednesday night.

Betty Fairfax (3-3, 3-2) rallied strong at the end of each set, winning the match with scores of 25-21, 25-19, and 25-15.

The Stampede overcame early offensive errors in each set behind incisive hitting and team defense.

The Stampede ended with 25 kills and 12 aces. Junior Brooklyn Scott and senior Kristina Castaneda  combined for 14 of the kills. Senior Keondas Thomas added two blocks.

Scott led the way with 10 kills and six aces.

“I’m not mad that Brooklyn’s always on fire,” Stampede coach Iman Isom said. “But our strategy tonight was really to keep the ball in the air longer than the other team.”

Junior Vanessa Chacon attributed Wednesday night’s win to team communication.

“A big thing with us is communicating with the ball,” Chacon said. “On the sidelines, coach tells us when to come up from the back. She’s very motivational for us to keep us out of our heads.”

The Stampede and Falcons battled in a competitive first set. The Falcons started hot behind six combined kills from sophomore Aymar Penuelas and senior Bryanna Lopez. 

They built an early 14-9 lead, but the Stampede rallied behind four combined kills from Scott and junior Alexis Rosas to go ahead, 16-15.

The Stampede then scored eight of the last 11 points to take the first set.

The offensive momentum didn’t stop in the second set as the Stampede raced out to a 9-2 lead behind four kills from Scott.

That momentum vanished as the Stampede committed several hitting errors out of bounds and misdirected multiple passes into the net. Lopez led the Falcons with three kills to put her squad on top, 19-18.

Isom quickly called timeout to settle her team down.

“I mentioned that we needed to get the ball to the weakest spot,” Isom said. “They needed to execute where that spot was, and I think they all did that.”

The Stampede scored eight straight points after Isom’s timeout to counter a valiant Falcons rally and win the set, 25-19.

Strong set finishes were a theme all night long in the Stampede’s favor. A tight third set saw the Falcons lead halfway through, 13-10. 

An impressive offensive display from Scott erased the lead for the Falcons, as she tallied six straight points and aces to put the set and match out of reach.

Falcons coach Francisco Villa was focused on the positives after a second loss in as many days.

“We did a great job with our serves going in,” Villa said. “We just had a little trouble moving our feet.”

“Our biggest takeaway we learned tonight is that we can always come back and win each set no matter how far we’re down,” Isom said. “We are a comeback team.”

Betty H. Fairfax (3-3, 3-2) will take a two-game win streak into the Epic Tourneys Girls Volleyball Invite on Saturday and Sunday in Tempe.