Down 13-4 in the fourth set at No. 2 Salpointe, No. 3 Estrella Foothills junior outside Sadie Snyder took the gym over with a kill, a block and then three more kills to help cut the lead down to 14-10. Still, the Lancers had a lead and an ace from Ashlyn Quiri later in the set put her team up 21-16 and seemingly in control. A victory in the fourth set would force a deciding fifth set but the Wolves weren’t finished.

A block from Abby Stenz and a couple more kills from Snyder completed the improbable comeback and the Wolves led 22-21. Kate Mobley tied the set up 22-22 but a kill from Iliana Brown and another from Snyder put Estrella Foothills up 24-22. Belle Russell gave the Lancers some hope with a score to cut the lead down to 24-23 but Snyder came up with winning shot and a 3-1 victory.

Estrella Foothills (33-1) will face No. 4 Mica Mountain (25-10) on Saturday for the 4A Conference state championship. The match is slated for 2:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The 2A (10 a.m.) and the 3A (12:15 p.m.) championship matches are taking place in the morning. Mica Mountain beat No. 8 Saguaro 3-0 in the other semifinal match.

Salpointe (28-11) had some difficulty closing out the first set after taking a 6-0 and then a 13-8 lead on Estrella Foothills, only to see the Wolves go on a 10-1 run to take an 18-14 lead. It was a sign of what was to come after Estrella Foothills took the first set 25-20 to go up 1-0.

Salpointe ripped off a 25-10 win the second set on the strength of five early aces to tie the match up 1-1 and then Estrella Foothills went up 14-5 in the third set. The Lancers battled back to cut the lead down to 21-18 and then 24-22 but Stenz scored to put the Wolves up 2-1. Stenz had 13 kills and Snyder had 17.

The Wolves survived a tough match with No. 6 Thunderbird in the quarterfinal round but the team came back from a 2-1 deficit to stay alive. The Wolves are never out until they are out and the team has only been beaten once this year and that was way back on Sept. 4. The Wolves are working on a 32 match win streak.

Estrella Foothills won the 2022 state championship and took second place last year. This is the first championship final for Mica Mountain.