Caleb Sieler is a student at Valley Christian and is a member of the AIA Student SID Program.

Your Varsity Trojan volleyball team is off to a great start this season after kicking off their season by battling hard in the House of Payne Tournament. During this tournament, the Trojans took on the challenge of playing the returning 6A champs, Sandra Day O'Conner. They also stood their ground against other tough competitors, with close losses coming against Queen Creek (6A), Sunrise Mountain (5A), and Salpointe Catholic (4A). They bested 6A Mountain View and 5A Arizona College Prep each in two sets.  

The Trojans kicked off their regular season with an away matchup against the Gilbert Christian Knights. As many know, the Knights and the Trojans have a long-standing rivalry, especially when it comes to volleyball. The score was neck and neck, but the Trojans were able to edge out the Knights by just a couple points in each set, winning 26-24 in the first, 25-18 in the second, and 25-23 in the third set. Every single player on the team made an appearance on the court, including Freshman Lila Liimatta with an impressive 10 kills in her debut high-school season match. She expressed, "playing in my first high school game and winning felt exhilarating and brought happiness, but only God can bring everlasting joy." Other notable performances include junior Eliana Gregg with 21 digs and senior Madison Brown-McAlpine with 22 assists.  

Two days later the Trojans were on the road again, facing off against the Safford Bulldogs. The Trojans managed to just scrape away with a first set victory, 25-23. However, they were able to dominate in the second set, 25-15, thanks to middles Ellie Stuber (12) and Sadie Wahlin (10) battling for each point. The Trojans took home a victory in the match after narrowly winning the 3rd set 25-23. The team's middle blockers, Stuber and Wahlin were definitely the highlight of the match, hitting a .438 and .538 hitting percentage respectively. They each stood out on defense as well, with a combined 6 solo blocks and 3 block assists. This game wrapped up their first week of regular season play.  

The Trojans still have two weeks of road games before taking on any opponents at home. Jasmine Garcia (12) disclosed, "I am excited finally for our first home game that's coming up soon, everyone should show up and show out!"

Make sure to keep following along with the undefeated Trojans as they continue to face strong opponents, including last year's 3A state champions, the Snowflake Lobos. Division rankings will be published tomorrow, so look out for the Trojans as they should be one of the top teams in the state.