Moving the Empire Ravens girls volleyball team up from the 3A Conference to the 5A Conference in the offseason was a head scratcher. Things were difficult enough, and the struggle to even qualify for the playoffs was real.

The program squeaked by in 2013 and 2014 with a 15 seed and a 16 seed but that led to first-round defeats. Then, when the field in 3A was expanded to 32 teams in 2015, the Ravens finished the regular season ranked 38th. The team missed the playoffs again in 2016 but qualified for the play-in bracket last year as a 21 seed.

Given all that, one would think the move up to 5A would have been a disaster but it’s been anything but. At 15-7 overall, 9-2 in power-ranking matches and 3-0 in 5A Sonoran Region, the Ravens started the day out ranked 13th and in complete control of their own destiny.

Things didn’t look that well in the beginning with two losses to start the season off but the Ravens have won nine power matches in a row, only giving up two sets along the way, and the pattern continued Wednesday night at Rincon/University with a three-match sweep.

“We were a bit concerned when we were moved up,” said captain Delaney Barber. “We saw the teams we had to play and we knew we had to work. We have good team chemistry and knew what we had to do.”

The senior setter finished the night with 24 assists and she made things more difficult for the Rangers by spreading her attempts almost evenly across the net with hitters Kendra Wissinger, Sophia Vera, Alyssa O’Daniel and Annabelle D’Agostino combining almost equally for 21 kills.

Still, the Rangers played tough each set but couldn’t hold early leads or sustain an attack. In the first set, a 10-10 tie was quickly lost after the Ravens ripped off five straight points and then held on for the 25-20 win. In the second set, the Rangers led 10-4 but the Ravens went on an 8-2 run to tie the set up 12-12. The Rangers went on to take a 19-18 lead in the second set but the Ravens closed it out on a 7-2 run for the 25-21 win. The Ravens led the third set 6-2, and things were eventually tied at 16-16, but the Ravens finished once again and came away with a 25-21 win.

Playing from behind early isn’t cause for concern according to Barber. “We just stay positive, play our game and fight back and know we are good enough to overcome it.”

At the same time, the inability to finish is a concern for the Rangers.

“We are playing really well and we are enjoying ourselves this year,” said junior setter Gabrielle Bogan. “We need to work on finishing and putting the balls away.”

Bogan finished with 23 assists with Kayla Conway and Loraya Rocha collecting most of the kills and is in complete control of the offense in her first year as the lead setter.

Rincon/UHS came into the match ranked 19th with a 10-7 record overall, 5-7 in ranking matches and 3-2 in region play. The loss dropped the Rangers to third place behind Mountain View Marana (2-1) in the 5A Sonoran standings but the name of the game is to somehow stay ranked in the top 24 to qualify for the play-in bracket. Only the top eight teams will avoid the play-in phase and head straight to the 16-team state bracket.

The 5A Play-In Bracket is set for Oct. 25 and the State Tournament will start on Oct. 30. The state championship in 5A will be played at ASU on Nov. 7.