Hudson French is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Higley High School for AZPreps365.com

Casteel used a mix of veterans and youth to dominate Higley Tuesday night in four sets, 25-14, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-14. The crucial away match starred outside hitters Ava Kretschman and Jadyn Orava who landed seven and 12 kills, respectively.

The first set featured an unusual look for Higley’s starting rotation. Because of their district’s fall break, the Knights were without a few key players to start. Star outside hitter Lucy Schmidt and one of last week’s heroes, Avery Garrett, were on the bench.

“We had a couple of our key players that weren’t able to make practice yesterday,” Higley Coach Tyler Kraemer said. “Family comes first always, but you can tell when they haven’t been in the gym for a little while. The little, quick, fast details end up being harder.”

In the first set, Higley jumped out to a 6-4 lead thanks to two kills from Tanner Robinson. Casteel then stormed back behind Kretschman’s three kills and one ace to make it 14-10. Kretschman was later removed from the game due to a hit that caused a bloody nose and paused the set for court clean-up.

“Ava is a workhorse,” Casteel Coach Cory Chandler said. “She’s our glue. She busted her face open and was ready to go back in. I don’t even know how it happened.”

After the break, Casteel retained control, going on an 11-3 run to finish the set. 

At the start of the second set, Higley returned Schmidt and Garrett to the lineup. They wasted no time feeding them as they accounted for four of the first 10 points for the Knights. 

Also coming in clutch was junior middle hitter Symone Smith, who used two key blocks and a kill to knot the set at 12-12.  Colts junior middle Dyborrah Johnson had a run of her own, planting two kills and a block that would set up a Kennedy Thompson ace to keep things square at 22-22. 

Higley countered when senior middle Tanner Robinson and Smith combined for a block before Schmidt and Robinson clinched the 25-23 set win with kills.

The final two sets were runaways for the Colts, both starting with 4-0 runs and ballooning to 10-5 before the Knights could answer. In the third, the spectacular defense of sophomore libero Ella Witte shined as Casteel needed only seven kills in the set.

“There were bright spots. That’s the part that frustrates me the most out of anything,” Kraemer said. “We’ll go out against great teams and beat them in a set and literally the next set, we look like we’ve never played volleyball before.”

Kretschman dominated the last set with four kills in the first five points of the match. Orava followed with two kills of her own, and Witte blasted two aces. Sophomore transfers Evelyn Thompkins and Bailey Farnes landed their first points of the season as transfers are only allowed to play 50% of the time.

The athleticism of Casteel stood out, and even more impressive, this team hasn’t finished growing yet. 

“We’re very young,” Chandler said. “I like to say we’re talented enough to beat anybody and young enough to lose to anybody. Youth is the biggest thing we’re overcoming.”

While assessing Tuesday’s performance, Kraemer noted his belief in Casteel as a contender, which provided a measuring stick for his team.

“I think they have an inside track to win the whole thing,” Kraemer said. “But we hung with them this whole match. I think we showed that we can compete with anybody. We have to get that killer instinct somewhere, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Higley (2-1 6-4) will play at Casa Grande (0-3, 2-8) Thursday at 6 p.m. Casteel (2-1, 8-2) battles Campo Verde (3-1, 5-6)  at home Thursday at 6 p.m.