There’s a puzzle that Perry is attempting to assemble.

The Pumas have all of the pieces. But only time will tell if they can slot them in the right place to construct a champion this season.

The Pumas moved another piece into place Tuesday after defeating defending 6A champ Brophy 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16 on the road.

“We feel we have a shot,” said Perry coach Ryan Tolman about contending for a title this year. “We just have to put it together.”

Higley’s senior led squad and Perry (10-0) are the only volleyball teams that haven’t dropped a match so far this season in 6A.

Tuesday’s match may have served as a good tuneup for what’s ahead for the Pumas and Brophy, which is hosting its annual elite event on Friday and Saturday. California Loyola, currently ranked third in the country by maxpreps, is one of the marquee programs attending the tournament.

Brophy (10-5) is more of a work in progress this year. It graduated nine seniors from last year’s title team and returned just two players with varsity experience.

The Broncos, however, still flashed a lot of fight against Perry, taking a game from the Pumas for the first time in their second meeting this year. In that game, junior Beni Sarreal and freshman Jonny Magro were effective from the outside, and 6-5 junior Barrett Simon emerged as a threat in the middle.

Tied 22-22, Simon helped close Game 2 with a kill and a block.

“It’ been a good season for us,” Brophy coach Tony Oldani said. “The guys are learning a lot. I’m really happy with how we fought tonight against this team. But we know that we are a end-of-the-year-hopefully-make-a-run team. So we are going to take our lumps here.”

The tall and athletic Pumas are certainly capable of inflicting some lumps.

In the third game, Brophy’s offense continued to find open spots. After the longest rally in Game 3, which Brophy won to tie the game at 9-9, the teams kept siding out until the Broncos grabbed a 21-19 lead after a Magro block.

But Logan Gray’s serving and Perry’s assortment of weapons, including outside Greyson Carter, setter Zach Tomlinson, middle Caden Ledbetter, and setter Tate Higgins, then really started to take control.

“Consistency,” said Tolman about what went wrong in Game 2 and what changed. “And that’s been a battle all year long, playing at a high level all the time. I think we got a little complacent. But I give Brophy a ton of credit. They came to play and defended really well tonight.”

The momentum in the Game 3 25-21 victory carried over into the final game for Perry.

Carter tallied six of his team’s final nine points with either a kill or a block to end Game 4.

The 6-5 outside hitter is part of a Perry sophomore class that may just be the best in the state.

“I don’t know,” said Carter as he shrugged his shoulders when asked if Perry is the No. 1 team in the state. “I’ll let you know at the end of the year.”

The puzzle building carries on.