Desert Vista's and Highland's girls volleyball teams are not separated by much. They showed that again on Tuesday night.

Highland avenged a loss three weeks ago -- its worst in a power-ranking match this year - to Desert Vista in this one, taking down the Thunder, 3-1. Scores were 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19. 

Desert Vista (19-14 overall) entered the 6A Central Region match #7 in the power-rankings with Highland (28-8) right behind at #9. The teams were also even in the region standings at .500 (DV 3-3 and Highland 2-2). The win moved Highland into second place alone behind first-place Corona (6-0) after the Aztecs' victory Tuesday over Desert Ridge (3-3).

"They were impressive against us the first time," Highland coach Jordan Neal said, recalling their 3-0 defeat. "They were the best defensive team we faced. We knew we had to go out and match that tonight. We were determined to swing hard tonight, and it didnt work out as well in the third set. I was proud of our effort."

That's exactly what Highland did along with a better performance on the attack. Every set was close as the score reached 20. In the opener Highland excelled with a 20-18 lead by registering four kills and a block for the final five points (two kills from Samia Bhakta and one each from Anna Toolson and Alayna Roberts). 

The second set was similar with Highland again up 20-18 late. This time a Toolson kill, a Roberts ace and Kennedy Williams kill combined with two Desert Vista errors to put the Hawks in command, 2-0.

It was a role-reversal in the third set with Desert Vista up 20-18 and using its attack to stay alive. Two kills by Brooke Blutreich, one by Kylie Moran and an ace by Georgia Lee bought a fourth set.

Desert Vista seemed to have the momentum from its set three win building a 10-6 lead in the fourth. A 5-0 Highland run turned the tide and the Hawks never trailed again. Leading 20-18 once again, a Toolson kill and block plus three successive Thunder hitting errors sent Highland home victorious.

"It was a good match," Desert Vista coach Molly West said. "Early on we gave up some easy points that hurt. Highland played well. They were better at the end of sets."

Leading Highland's attack was Bhakta with 18 kills, Roberts with 14 and Toolson 13. Setter Natalie Palmer was quite busy with 55 assists and 18 digs. Libero Abby Peterson led defensively with 38 digs.

Desert Vista was paced offensively by Brooke Blutreich (11 kills), Jennifer Soto and Logan Blutreich with eight kills each. Soto led in blocks with four assists and one solo, which was a bigger part of its sweep of the Hawks in their prior meeting. Thunder defense was solid with Kate Morin (20 digs), Lee (15 digs) and Brooke Blutreich (13 digs).