AZ College Prep. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

The Cienega faithful had four simple numbers printed on the back of their warmup and coaching shirts and the numbers appeared to be random in nature. One might think the numbers were there to honor former players and, in a way, that would be partially correct but the numbers served as a reminder – motivation. “08 – 25 – 0 – 3.”

It turns out AZ College Prep eliminated the Bobcats in the semifinal round last year in a sweep by a score of 25-8, 25-23, 25-21. “8” was a low point in the first set of the loss, Cienega took no sets and the team lost all three. This year, No. 2 Cienega (36-4) beat No. 5 AZ College Prep (25-13) in straight sets (25-16, 25-9, 25-22) in the championship match played Saturday afternoon at Skyline High School in Mesa. Redemption and revenge turned out to be a powerful motivation.

“I could see that drive in their eyes,” AZ College Prep head coach KJ Struz said on the Cienega players. “I could look at them across the net and know they wanted this, and today they just earned it.”

Leading the way was senior setter Caiden Mott, who finished his record-setting career with 30 assists in the championship final. Mott ended his overall career with over 3,000 assists and he’s the youngest of the Mott siblings who, together, collected near 10,000 assists. McLain, Carson, McKenzie and Caiden.

Caiden Mott brought plenty of weapons to the final in junior Chase Briggs (11 kills), junior Andrew Keen (9), Cedric Whetten (7), senior Derek Zobrist-Carroll (6) and senior Jaden Clark (4). Taken individually, those kills might not seem impressive but it’s a team sport and balls rained down across the net and the collective appeared to be more of a storm at times than a sprinkle.

In the first set, the score played out to a 12-12 tie but Mott turned and distributed balls across the net and that tie was quickly displaced by a 20-12 lead for the Bobcats in what seemed like only a few minutes. The 25-16 victory gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.

The second set almost mirrored the setback the Bobcats suffered to AZ College Prep last year with Cienega rolling to a 25-9 victory to go up 2-0 but the deciding third set proved more difficult with the Knights showing the grit it took to take out top-seeded Ironwood 3-1 in the semifinal round Thursday night.

“I don't think the stage was set where we could actually see our team,” Struz added. “We've got some young talent. If you look back at what we did get to Ironwood and one of the best players in 5A. They fought for each other than they battled today. I think it was just a bit of nerves, and in all reality, I have to give Cienega huge respect.”

Cienega built a 16-11 lead in the third set and then 18-14 but senior setter Cooper Aron (20 assists) rallied his team behind the offense of seniors Lucas Tam (8 kills) and Kaden Sanders (6). Six of the eight kills earned by Tam came in the third set – he was almost unstoppable. The 18-14 lead gave way to a 19-19 tie on an ace from junior Zakaria Ayoub. The 5-1 run gave the Knights new hope but Mott set up an offense that gave the Bobcats a 23-20 lead. Tam cut it back down to 23-21 only to have Keen make it 24-21. Sanders scored to make it 24-22 but Briggs ended the match on a kill from the left side, 25-22.

This was the third state title for Cienega head coach Heather Mott (2017, 2022, 2026) and this was the third straight championship final for the Knights, winning it all in 2024.