Gilbert High's senior-heavy lineup vs. Horizon's underclassman-dominated lineup.

The former with no titles in its pocket, but a hearty appetite to claim one .The latter with two players that played a huge part in two consecutive state titles despite their youth. Who won?

On Monday night it was the team with the hearty appetite as Gilbert rallied from two sets down to put the finishing touches to an astounding Division I state tournament run by defeating  Horizon, 14-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-19, 15-10 at  Grand Canyon University Arena.

It was Gilbert's first title since 2006 and the fiifth overall in school history. Gilbert's ' last three tournament wins were over Hamilton (the 2010 5A-I runner-up) in the quarterfinals, Xavier (the four-time defending 5A-I champ) in the semis and Horizon with back-to-back titles in tow. The Tigers have won three titles with Hesse at the helm (2006 and  2003)

Gilbert  (35-10) looked nothing like the team that knocked off Hamilton and Xavier in the prioir two rounds. Their first game was filled with unforced errors, including four mis-serves as well as crisp play in every aspect  from Horizon (33-5). It was only  in the second set the Tigers started to rebound, but were still outplayed by Horizon.

Winning the third set narrowly and then controlling the fourth, Gilbert restored the momentum and prowess that piloted coach Joe Hesse's squad to the title.

"I give crecit to Horizon," Hesse said. "They played a game I hadn't seen from them earlier. We just tried to be steady. We finally got going, but almost waited too long. I told the girls to believe in our training and to focus. It was a matter them gaining focus and figuring it out."

Gilbert senior outside hitter Macey Gardner turned in a monster title match with 32 kills and 21 digs. Twenty-two of those kills came in the final three sets. Gardner got plenty of help from fellow senior starter Hunter Howard (nine kills), junior Penina Snuka (nine kills) and junior Tatum Lostumo, who subbed in to contribute 8 kills. Senior setters Sarah Beene and Emily Masterson kicked into gear the final three plus sets feeding their hitters.

Horizon coach Valorie McKenzie was disappointed not coming away with a third title in a row after winning the first two sets, but  not because of how her team played.

"After the first two games I told them to keep playing well and passing well," McKenzie said. "I think what happened wa Gilbert picked up their game. We weren't playing that bad.  It was just a matter of Gilbert finding a groove."

Horizon's only losses this season were to Xavier (twice), Gilbert (twice) and Ironwood. McKenzie'sstarting rotation included only one senior, one junior, four sophomores and one freshman.

Horizon was led statistically by junior Nikki Hess (13 kills) and sophomore Sierra Nobley (nine kills).