Ella Johns is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Ridge High School for AZPreps365.com.

Filling the auditorium with noise in the last 30 seconds of every timeout, Desert Ridge High School parents banged their feet against the bleachers to a beat, a continuing tradition. 

“A dad last year started the chant, ” said parent of a player, Quannee Oosahwe. “He used to sit at the very top of the bleachers. Now that his daughter graduated, we kinda were like somebody has to do it. I just voluntarily started to do it. It's our way to encourage them."

Earlier in October, the Desert Ridge girls volleyball team traveled to face the Highland Hawks, falling short in four sets, 1-3, and added its fourth loss to the season.

Heading into the rest of the regular season, the Jaguars welcomed the Queen Creek Bulldogs to its home court on Tuesday, October 15.

Scoring first, the Jaguars set the tone in the first couple of seconds, but the Bulldogs were quick to answer back. Taking advantage of Desert Ridge’s service errors, Queen Creek took the lead 3-1. Battling the rest of the set, the Jaguars took set one, 25-24, holding the Bulldogs on match point and taking the lead 1-0. 

“We took a set away from one of the best teams in the state right now, which is super cool for us,” said first-time head coach, Kayce Peters. “It shows them that we can do hard things, if we put our mind to it and have confidence, that's all that matters.”

After a short two-minute break, the second set started with the Bulldogs putting the first four points on the board. With the 4-0 lead, the Bulldogs continued dominating the second set with stellar plays from seniors, Emmie Ray and Kiana Landers.

Tying the game up 1-1, Queen Creek took set two, 25-9. 

Still in the game, the Jaguars entered the third set neck-and-neck with Queen Creek.

Kai Perkins, the libero for the Jaguars, dove in every corner of the court to keep the Bulldogs to a short lead.

Desert Ridge fell short in the third set, 19-25, giving the Jaguars one last chance to keep the game alive.

The fourth and final set would be taken by the Bulldogs 25-20 but not until the Jaguars came out scoring nine-straight points after a quick debrief with Peters.

“I told them I felt like we were playing on our back feet, we played really hesitant and we were afraid to take risks,” Peters said after the game. “I let them know that I am OK with positive mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make good mistakes.”

Overall, the Jaguars totaled 29 kills on the night, 13 from junior outside hitter, Natalie Lorenzo. A three-year varsity starter, Lorenzo was one of the few who played the entire game against the Bulldogs. 

Constantly moving around the court, Lorenzo was a key factor for the Jaguars offense and defense and walked away with the 17 points for the Desert Ridge Jaguars in the 3-1 loss against the Queen Creek Bulldogs.

“They came in as the upper team so to take a set off of them was really good,” Lorenzo said. “I’m happy with my performance but I couldn’t do it without my team; my setters, my libs. As a team, I think we did really good.”