Eve McFarland is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Deer Valley High School for AZPreps365.com

Junior Sadie Snyder fueled the Estrella Foothills girls volleyball team with 19 kills and four aces in a four-set victory at Deer Valley on Wednesday night. 

“She’s been a sparkplug for our team,” Wolves coach Jennifer Gonzales said. “She is high energy, always up-beat and she is the one we can count on.” 

The Skyhawks' effective defense led them to win the first set, 27-25, but the Wolves took the next three sets,  25-20, 25-14, 25-11. 

Last year, the Wolves qualified for the 4A state girls volleyball playoffs but lost in the championship match, 3-1, against ALA-Gilbert North. 

Gonzales said that despite losing key players from last season, the team was eager to fill those positions. 

“They are very competitive,”Gonzales said. “They know what it takes to win and they want to be a part of that.” 

The Skyhawks (13-12) met the challenge to play against the Wolves (16-1) and fought for each point. In the first set, The Wolves led 16-11 after senior Abby Stenz got a kill. 

Skyhawks senior Bella Figueroa got a kill and junior Izzy Darnell contributed her third kill of the set cutting the deficit to 13-16.

After the Wolves’ first timeout, Skyhawks senior Lilah Clark had an ace to tie the score at 17, but the Wolves fought back. 

Snyder had three consecutive aces to put the Wolves back in the lead, 24-21.

Coming out of a Skyhawks timeout, Darnell had two kills and an ace for the score to be tied at 24. The Skyhawks' efficient defense helped boost the team to maintain a lead and win the first set, 27-25. 

It was a close scoring range in the second set until Snyder bolted with two back-to-back kills for the Wolves to lead 14-11. Snyder said she depended on her teammates to communicate about the open areas to attack. 

“Working with them (teammates) made the game a whole lot easier. Especially when I am up, I can’t see everything but they can see more than I can see,” Snyder said.

Skyhawks senior Morgan Walker stepped up with her third kill igniting the Skyhawks' energy to come back to 15-18. Walker had four kills and two blocks. 

“She came off the bench cold, had three amazing plays and that just brought our energy up from low to way high,” said Darnell, who finished with 12 kills and two aces. 

The Wolves kept their composure to end the second set, 25-20. 

“We just have to take it one point at a time and that’s what they do,” Gonzales said. “They’re very mentally tough. They have that mentality that they don’t get rattled, they just get one point at a time. It’s not over until it’s over.” 

The Wolves went on a 13-5 run in the beginning of the third set. The Skyhawks struggled to close the gap as Clark got a kill,  making it10-18. She had seven kills and two aces. 

To end the third set, Stenz got a kill for a 25-14 win. She had eight kills, two blocks and three aces. 

In the final set, Wolves junior Cadynce Kirkpatrick got a block for a 12-3 lead and the Skyhawks never got any closer than seven points as the Wolves took the set, 25-11. Kirkpatrick had seven kills and two blocks.