Jack Janes is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Chandler for AZPreps365.com

When the ball landed on the hardwood floor on Basha’s side of the court for the final time on Thursday night, it meant more than just the end of the game.

Chandler entered the game winless on the season outside of tournament play and they only won two sets in those 14 games played. The Wolves have a habit of playing competitive volleyball until towards the end of sets; that is where they tend to make mistakes and let the set slip away.

But not Thursday night. The ball landing on the hardwood floor for the final time meant overcoming an obstacle that has plagued them all season. Chandler finally finished sets and won their first match of the season on Senior Night, 3-1, over Basha.

“It felt surreal,” senior outside hitter Ashley Frantantoro said. “We've been working for that all season.”

None of the sets came easy as both teams scored at least 20 points in all four sets. Chandler took sets one, two and four with scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-21, while  Basha took set three, 25-20.  

Emotions were already high due to it being Senior Night, but four tightly contested sets created an intense atmosphere on the court that the Wolves used to their advantage.

“The fact that this is our last home game, it’s Senior Night, and this team has always been a team who thrives on energy,” Chandler coach Tracey Rodarte said. “Everything that you could possibly ask for, happened tonight.” 

And that energy was felt on the other side of the court, too.

“I think Chandler just brought the energy more than we did,” Basha coach Lexy Monte said. “I think we were just in our heads a little bit.”

All three of Chandler’s set wins featured late rallies that either sparked a come-from-behind victory or just propelled them past Basha. 

In the first set, Basha held a 19-18 lead until Chandler went on a 7-4 run to win 25-22. 

Then in the second set, Chandler dug themselves into a 5-0 hole out of the gate. Chandler worked back into the game and benefited from a service error, an attack error and a ball that went out of play by Basha to make it a one-point game at 20-19. Basha junior middle blocker Kahlen Lyons got a kill to temporarily stop the bleeding, but then Chandler senior outside hitter Prycelyss Purdie got a block, which caused the Chandler bench and the rest of the gymnasium to erupt. 

On the next play, Purdie nailed a kill to tie the game at 21-21, forcing Basha to call a timeout. But Purdie was not done. Immediately after the timeout she drilled another kill to take the lead. Basha then hit three balls out of play to clinch the second set for Chandler, 25-22.

Basha responded in the third set by going on 15-8 run when trailing 12-11 to claim their only set victory of the night.

In the final set, Chandler once again found themselves down by five as Basha led 12-7. Chandler fought back to get within one at 18-17, then Purdie once again came up big as she nailed two kills and two blocks, including the game-ending point, en route to a 8-3 run to carry Chandler to a 25-21 set win to end it.

Purdie finished the game with 10 kills, four aces and three blocks. Another standout player for Chandler was Fratantoro, who finished with eight kills and two aces. 

The long-awaited win finally came for Chandler, and it could not have been better timing on Senior Night.

“They just keep fighting and never stop,” Rodarte said about Chandler’s seniors. “They constantly want to get better and better every practice.”

Chandler (1-14, 1-5) travels to Hamilton (10-5, 5-1) on Monday at 6 p.m.

Basha (5-11, 1-6) will host Casteel on Monday at 6 p.m.