Elijah Murray is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Red Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

The Red Mountain beach volleyball team came out on top against Canyon View on Wednesday, winning 5-0 and taking every game in straight sets. With the win, the Mountain Lions remain undefeated after their first three matches of the season. 

In game one, Red Mountain’s senior duo of Brexton Tompkinson and Caleb Haskett bested Canyon View seniors Devon Bills and Bo Lambert in straight sets, winning 21-13, 21-11. That momentum continued into the second game as Mountain Lions juniors Sterling Bishop and Will Berkshire defeated seniors Mateo Cardenas and Nathaniel Landa in straight sets, 21-17, 21-17. 

Red Mountain (3-0) maintained its form, winning the remaining three games, as senior Trey Rich and junior Austin Bramlett defeated the Jaguars' pair of senior Jarod Hemsley and junior Logan Eaton, 21-18, 21-19. Seniors Blake Skelton and Campbell Bowen took the fourth game of the match in straight sets, 21-15. 21-19 against junior Nickolas Cordova and senior Alan Cano. Senior Graham Fish and junior Ryker Waite finished out the day with a 21-14, 21-19 victory over senior Isaiah Cain and freshman Harrison Zehtab.

Red Mountain coach Jeremy Hutter is happy with how his team has started the season. 

“I’m feeling great,” Hutter said. “It's been a really good start to our season. I don't think we've won three in a row ever in the past, so I think this is a really good start.

“It’s been really good for team morale, and the guys are really great at getting out there and supporting each other.”

Hutter also praised the communication his team is displaying during their games.

“They definitely did better for sure,” Hutter said. “I'm big on communication in general, so I think there's always room for improvement, but they definitely took the notes that we worked on in practice and implemented it into today's match.

“Especially our (No. 2) teams today were calling out really good shots for each other, which I think really ultimately helped them win the match.”

Despite it still being early in the season, Hutter has already noticed some key growth in his players.

“Everyone's games have just gotten better,” he said. “Even though it's only been a week since our first match, I think everyone has noticed those slight improvements that they needed to make.

“They're taking some more risks in games, which sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I think with some of our guys I'm trying to push them to be a little bit more aggressive at the net and they're taking more risk and not being as nervous to kind of take those swings.”

With a three-match homestand now in the books, Hutter has the task of preparing his squad for a three-match stretch away from home court.

“You get so comfortable playing at your home court,” he said, “so honing in on the connection that you have with your partner and the chemistry that you have with your partner, and just knowing, regardless of wherever it is that you're playing, you need to lean on your partner, rely on them, use them to help you out.”

Red Mountain (3-0) will play at Benjamin Franklin (1-2) on Monday at 4 p.m. 

Canyon View (0-1) will travel to Youngker (2-2) at 4 p.m. Monday.