Blessing Fraser is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Maricopa for AZPreps365.com

Maricopa successfully added another win in the books on Thursday night. They faced Vista Grande at home in a 5A Conference game.The Rams showed no mercy winning in thre sets, 25-7, 25-8, 25-10. 

This season, the Rams had to adjust after dropping from a 6A conference, to a 5A conference. After this switch, the team knew that they would have to face a whole different batch of teams. Fortunately, head coach Tia Kannapel has been able to guide the team through this transition smoothly. 

“We talk a lot about what our goal is and how we maintain a high level where we’re still getting better every single game and not playing to the level of our competition,” Kannapel said. 

Within her four seasons with the Rams, Kannapel has focused on improving communication, hard work and effort, on and off the court for this program. 

Another key aspect that Kannapel continues to implement is celebrating the team’s success. With the support of each other, the Rams had over 20 kills and 18 aces.

Although the Spartans scored the first point of the game, the Rams quickly shifted gears as they scored eight back-to-back points. Half of these points came from senior Brianna Pino. The senior had four consecutive kills to put the Rams up 9-3. The Spartans head coach had no choice but to call a timeout to regroup her team. 

The Rams then went on to score another 10-straight points, ending the first set 25-7.

Pino finished the game off with over 12 kills for her team. She leads the state of Arizona with the highest number of kills and is ranked #255 nationally. 

She contributes her success from the advice that the seniors gave her during her freshman year. During this year, she learned how to maneuver around different types of players and see what a team leader should be doing. 

“That helped me to learn how to lead by example and everyone has been here for a few years so now the team is super close,” said Pino, who is a  team captain. 

The Rams kept up the momentum the entire match leaving little room for error. 

They went on to score seven-consecutive points during the second sets with a mix of kills, digs and aces. The Spartans couldn’t respond and this put up the Rams 13-4.

Vista Grande head coach Raquel Case is taking this loss as a learning opportunity. The Spartans have also gone through a transformation this past season, with the former head coach stepping down two weeks before the school year. 

Case is focusing on building the program back up after many unfortunate events during her first year as head coach. 

“I know tonight you might look at the score and be like, ‘Wow that was a bad loss for them,’ but it was the first time tonight that my girls actually lost together and with pride,” said Case. 

The Spartans coach is more proud that the players on her team are creating a solid foundation together rather than the record. 

Sophomore Saxyn Coles finished off the game with 3 aces and 2 kills in the third set, putting up the Rams 25-10.

The Maricopa Rams face off against Canyon del Oro on October 2, at their home court.