For the Valley Lutheran Flames it wasn’t a Friday night football game that pumped up the school, it was the varsity volleyball team’s three-game sweep over the Salome Frogs.

The relatively young group held the Frogs to point totals of nine, seven and 15. Not to mention, each set was a measly 14 minutes long.

Flames head coach Randy Krieger said his team takes pride in its defensive approach. With three blocks on Friday night Valley Lutheran’s season total is upwards of 50.

“If you’re an average hitting team, they have a hard time getting the ball on the floor against us,” Krieger said. “Even though we started four freshmen and three sophomores they played great defense and it’s a great way to play.”

Of the four starting freshmen it was Samantha Clemens who stood out by tallying four points. Three of her four points came in the second set to push Valley Lutheran over the top 25-7.

The freshmen remain a cornerstone for the Flames, but sophomore Sloane Zeller continues to be surprised.

“The freshmen really impressed me today,” Zeller said “They came out and not only played one game, but they played JV too. They’ve been surprising me all year.”

Although the freshmen had their way with the Frogs, Zeller delivered 12 points of her own, most of which were aces.

Zeller went on a run in the final set, putting up a fifth of the team’s 25 points.

“I knew I wasn’t just playing for me, I was playing for my team,” Zeller said. “Everything I did was for my team. It was not individually for me.”

With the Flames now sitting at 12-2 and No. 1 in the 1A West conference standings, Frogs head coach Kari Avila needs to head back to the drawing board if her team wants to catch up.

“It was definitely mental,” Avila said.

Before the showdown even started the Frogs looked intimidated, and it showed through countless unforced errors. However, they did make a push in the final set before falling to 5-8.

“That is kind of our habit. Our third one is usually our best one.” Avila said.

Despite a promising final effort, the Flames controlled the flow of the game from the first serve. At the helm of the dominance was junior Alixus James, and Krieger said he believes her poise hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“She doesn’t do a lot with her voice, but she’s a quiet leader and the whole team respects her,” Krieger said. “She’s a lead by example type person.”

Friday night’s example just happens to be 11 points and a block. James has set herself a part from the competition with her superb deliveries.

As one of the leaders of the squad James continues to play at an elite level with 60 sets played, 68 kills and 47 aces prior to Friday’s game.

The Flames won’t have much time to recover as they play in the Black Canyon Invitational on Oct. 14. As for the Frogs, they’ll have a couple days off before they battle it out with Bagdad Sultan (2-11) on Oct. 17.