Sedona Red Rock High School’s volleyball team has enjoyed a perfect start to the season. But Tuesday’s game pitted them against Glendale Prep, the two-time defending Arizona 2A Central Section champions who entered Tuesday having not dropped a section match since 2016. So, one natural question lingered: Could SRRHS keep that momentum going?
The Scorpions answered that question with a resounding yes. The visiting Griffins entered the match shorthanded, with two key players lost to season-ending injuries. Sedona Red Rock took full advantage of its wounded opponent. The Scorpions started off strong, winning the first set in dominant fashion and getting the already boisterous student section even more into the match. From there, SRRHS never looked back, winning 3-0 and taking all three sets by more than 10 points.
“Nobody is getting rattled,” coach John Parks said. “Everybody keeps their composure really well. Mentally we’re doing a good job. Everybody understands their role and has accepted their role. I think that helps also. They know when they’re supposed to go in. Those are some of the little things I don’t have to worry about that are going well.”
The second set would have been a natural time for the Scorpions to get thrown off of their game. After SRRHS opened with a dominant 25-13 win in the first set, the beginning of the second set looked like it might bring them back to earth. Glendale prep scored the first three points and opened up a 6-2 lead. From there, things changed and changed quickly for Sedona Red Rock.
The Scorpions rattled off the next seven points to take a 9-6 lead. They never trailed again. The Griffins did cut the lead to 9-8, but SRRHS responded with a 7-2 run to take a 16-10 lead. From there, Sedona cruised to a 25-14 win to open up a commanding 2-0 set lead. The Scorpions rode that momentum into the third set, which they won 25- 12 to close out the match. In doing so, they handed Glendale prep its first league loss in three years.
“Glendale Prep was trying to attack Zone 1 quite a bit,” Parks said. “So we adjusted Liz [Corral- Diaz] a little bit over into Zone 1. She started getting a lot of digs. She did a good job mentally, saying ‘okay, I need to move out of my normal spot a little bit and cover this a little bit and cover this a little bit more.’”
Corral-Diaz totalled six digs during the match, second only to sophomore Emma Beattie. Morgan Fritz led the Scorpions with 16 kills on the night, Fritz and Beattie recorded three aces each, while seniors Kaitlyn Akerele, Amari Sonn, and Mary Westervelt all had a pair. Parks also praised the play of Sonn. She roamed the back row with Corral- Diaz throughout the match and also was a leading force on the offense.
“Amari did a good job passing and on defense,” the coach said. “One thing I try to stress is to try to get a play that’s a little bit out of control back into control and get something out of it. And Amari did a great job doing that several times throughout the match.”
The win moved the Scorpions to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in section play. Next up for SRRHS is a home date against North Pointe Prep on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. It will also be Taco Tuesday Night for the Scorpions.
Michael Dixon can be reached at 282-7795 ext 131 or email to mdixon@larsonnewspapers.com
