Heading into its league championship game matchup against Mayer, Sedona Red Rock High School’s junior high school volleyball team had not lost a match or even a set all season. That didn’t change in the finals.
The Scorpions never trailed at any point in either set against the Wildcats. Sedona won the first set 25-10 and followed that up with a 25-15 second set victory to secure a 2-0 win, claiming the league championship in the process.
“It’s really a big accomplishment for us,” said Amy Brefeld, one of two Scorpions captains. “We really worked hard this season. Even though there weren’t many teams this year because of COVID, we still did really good. We went undefeated which was amazing. We didn’t even lose a set. That’s a great accomplishment and I’m really proud of us.”
Brefeld was a key figure in arguably the most important sequence of the match.
Despite the lopsided final in the first set, the early part of it was competitive. Sedona opened with a 3-0 lead, but Mayer came back to force ties of 4-4 and 6-6. The Scorpions broke the Wildcat serve to take a 7-6 lead and regain the serve for Brefeld’s turn in Sedona’s service rotation. Her serve was not broken for 11 points. The Scorpions then scored seven of the final 10 points to win the opening set 25-10 and go up 1-0 in the match.
Sedona coach Pedro Ortega said that he puts his two captains — Sierra Williams and Brefeld — in the key spots in the service rotation, with Williams going first and Brefeld fourth. He liked how it paid off.
“It was amazing,” Ortega said. “I always count on my one and four — my two best servers I have. When we got to that point, she gave us a big lift.”
The second set played out similarly to the first. The Scorpions jumped out to a 3-0 lead and were up 8-2 when the Wildcats began to chip away, narrowing the gap to 10-8. Sedona regained its composure and led 17-14 when it was Makayla Wilcox’s turn to serve. The Scorpions scored each of the next six points to go up 23-14 to effectively ice the match and the championship.
“I think we did good,” Wilcox said. “We were definitely scared at first but we did good in the end. It feels good — exciting.”
Ortega added that this season feels especially satisfying given how much uncertainty surrounded it.
For much of the summer, the idea of even having a fall sports season was in doubt. Things did get underway but the uncertainty remained, with other schools having to cancel games due to COVID-19 concerns. Ortega expressed a great deal of pride in how well his team adjusted and followed the regulations in place.
“The season was scary — COVID was waiting to attack at any moment,” he said. “Somehow we made it through. Everybody is healthy. We followed protocols and all the guidelines and finished our season. Thank God we did. At moments I thought it would be kind of hard to finish the season. But for the most part, I think the end result was great for everyone. Wearing masks when needed, social distancing when they could. In the end, it was a great result. Winning the championship is great.”
In addition to the team accomplishment, three Scorpions were honored for their individual performances in the tournament. Brefeld and Wilcox were both named to the All-Tournament team while Williams was honored as the tournament MVP.
The SRRJHS volleyball teams have enjoyed a lot of success in recent years. This was the third championship in four years, following wins in 2017 and 2018. It was also the fifth straight trip to the finals. While Sedona fell just short a season ago, the frustration of 2019 only served to add to the jubilation that came when the final ball hit the floor to secure the championship in 2020.
“It’s a little newsflashy because last year we did not win,” Williams said. “We lost hard. This year it’s really good. It feels much better than last year with how we played. I feel really happy about it.”
