Campo Verde VB tops Higley to go 6-0 in pp matches

September 12, 2012 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Campo Verde's girls volleyball team has established some consistency after nearly three weeks of play and its latest conquest was neighboring Higley.

Campo Verde played better as each set  progressed  Wednesday night  and that meant a sweep of visiting Higley by scores of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-12 in a Division III match.

Campo Verde improved to 6-0 in power-point matches and is 12-2 overall with a high finish (3rd) two weeks ago at the Chandler House of Payne Invitational.

"We're understanding our positions better as we go," Campo Verde coach Tricia Melfy said. "That leads to the whole team being successful."

Campo Verde won the first set easily as Higley had a tough time settling in. The second set was more like Higley coach Breht Mieckowski has witnessed from her young squad, which plays  four sophomores extensively. Rather than collapsing in set one after trailing just 13-12, Higley began set two more consistent and efficient. The  Knights jumped to a 7-3 lead. After hitting a lull and trailing 16-9, they pulled within 20-18 late. A 25-20 loss in the second set was easier to swallow.

"Obviously we didn't play as well as we'd have liked, especially coming out," Mieckowski said. "They forced us into a lot of errors we don't normally make."

Higley finished fourth this past weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational, a finish that was high for the program. The Knights fell to 5-2 in power-point matches, but is 8-4 overall.

Leading the way for Campo Verde was senior outside Ally Dell'Amico. Dell'Amico enjoyed a typical all-around match for her with 12 kills, 16 digs and five aces. Junior opposite Haley Christiansen chipped in with seven digs, four kills and six aces. Two of those aces came in the second set that  spur a 7-1 run and allow Campo Verde to take control of the set. Helping out as well on offense was Misha McDowell (five kills) and on defense Dani Hallaran added 14 digs.

"We do have more than one player that can attack," Melfy said. "I thought Haley played very well tonight. She's old reliable. She can angle, line, tip or roll. She opens things up for us at times in the middle."

Higley's leaders in Wednesday's match were Sydnie Martindale (9 kills), Taylor Wetzel with 15 digs and Delaney Layton with 14 assists.