(GILBERT, Ariz.) Gilbert Christian volleyball cruised to a 3-0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-13) home victory over the San Tan Foothills Sabercats on Tuesday evening. The Knights put on a serving clinic in the affair, with junior Emma Caraveo rattling off 12-straight points in the third set to secure the sweep for her squad.
"I think we really picked up our energy toward the end, and thrived," sophomore Alexia Heyn said. "The excitement brought our team together and we started to play like we are capable of playing."
The Knights began strong, jumping out to a 5-0 lead behind stellar serving from senior Rio Taylor. Freshman Sienna Cathey posted the first kill of the night, followed by a Heyn smash and back-to-back putdowns from freshman Lillie Duitsman to give GCHS an 11-1 advantage. Junior Kaedra Lloyd was next, and Taylor followed suit with one of her own to push the Knights out front 14-3. Caraveo bolstered the total with her first two aces of the night, and Gilbert Christian closed it out, allowing just seven Sabercats' points in the opening set.
In the second, GCHS struck early, finding considerable success with a Heyn and Duitsman front-line rotation, but ultimately allowed San Tan Foothills to creep back into contention by the midway point. Despite allowing 15 late points, the Knights held on, as the early deficit became too much for the Sabercats to overcome.
The onset of the third was close, but GCHS began to pull away following a big kill from Heyn and two aces from sophomore Sidney Loth. The high-flying Duitsman was next to strike, stretching the margin to 9-4 in favor of the Knights. This time, however, STF responded with a run of its own, closing gap at 11-10, and forcing a home team timeout. The break froze the Sabercats' server, who missed, but GCS returned the favor on its next attempt, keeping the set within reach. The untimely errors continued for the Knights, giving San Tan its first lead of the night, at 13-12. Taylor and junior Kaila Aston answered with a big block at the net on the next play to bring it back to even, and Caraveo took over, serving for the final 12 points to give her team the win.
"Today I think we did a great job getting comfortable with being uncomfortable by trying new lineups and playing next to different people," Head Coach Alyssa Misuraca said. "Our consistent aggressiveness in our serving surprised me. Moving forward we are going to work on seeing the court on offense more effectively, and seeing the open spots faster."
Duitsman, Taylor, Aston, Lloyd, Cathey and Heyn all hit above .250 in the contest. Junior Michelle Lopez led the defense and the team in digs for the second-straight match, and Aston's formidable presence at the net tallied the most blocks on the floor.
"Lillie impressed me again by making a low number of errors and staying consistent in offense," Misuraca said. "Alex brought a lot the match by bringing definitive power with some 10 to 15-foot kills. Kaila also made an impression by playing big at the net and creating a blocking wall that was hard to work around."
With the victory, GCHS evens its record at 1-1 overall. San Tan Foothills drops to 0-1 with the loss.
Gilbert Christian returns to action at home on Thursday against Northwest Christian. The match is scheduled for 6:00pm, following the freshman/sophomore and junior varsity games. The Knights travel to Payson High School to play in the Longhorn Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
-GO KNIGHTS-
