Zane Cox is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain for AZPreps365.com

PEORIA, Ariz. — In a 5A volleyball state championship rematch from a season ago, Sunrise Mountain got revenge and defeated defending champion Chaparral 3-0. 

The Mustangs (13-12, 4-2 Northwest Valley region) hosted the Firebirds (13-5, 4-2 East Sky region) on Monday night and delivered a statement win in a pivotal 5A matchup by sweeping the Firebirds. 

Chaparral is ranked third in the state in the 5A rankings. With the win, the Mustangs, who sit at 10th, should jump a few spots in the rankings with a chance to get into that top-eight seed and automatic qualifier state tournament berth. 

The Mustangs are on a roll, winning seven games in a row and heating up at the best time of the year. 

"That [win] was much needed," Sunrise Mountain coach Brandi Jans said. "It was amazing. They played so hard, and they needed that confidence booster."

Although the Mustangs swept Chaparral, they found themselves behind in all three sets they played. 

Chaparral started the game hot, going up 7-1 in the first set on the Mustangs. Junior inside hitter Morgan Thorne was dominant in the first set with bulldozing kills. The Mustangs had no answer for it early. Jans was forced to call a timeout. 

Coming out of the timeout, the Mustangs looked like a different team. Senior team captain setter Aubree Manning and senior libero Hailey Brueggeman were the difference on the defensive side for the Mustangs, which limited Thorne and let the Mustangs get back into the first set. 

Manning and Brueggeman proved to be crucial for the Mustangs, combining for 33 digs in the game. 

"Our defense wins games," Jans said. "Aubree can read that ball really well. Like her, and the defense wins games. So without them in the back and reading that motion and the communication, we don’t have a team."

After the Mustangs crawled back into it, sophomore setter Grace Coughlin finished the set with an ace to give the Mustangs a first-set win, 27-25. 

After a sloppy start to the second set for both teams, freshman outside hitter Harlow Dzurick caught fire offensively for the Firebirds. Dzurick had a game-high 12 kills, six coming in the second set. 

Again, after a Sunrise Mountain timeout trailing by five points, it looked like a new Mustang team. This time, senior outside hitter Lucy Proudfit was the difference. Proudfit had crucial blocks to bring the Mustangs back into the set. 

"I feel like I did a great job tonight with staying with my hitter and focusing on where they were going to hit,” Proudfit said. “I feel like I protected our defense well tonight.” 

Senior outside hitter Brynlee Haugen finished the set with back-to-back kills to give the Mustangs a 25-22 set win. 

"We didn’t give up when we were behind,” Jans said. “They played point for point, which I love. We have worked on those little things of pushing to finish, and this is the best I’ve seen them push to finish every game.” 

The third set was similar to the first two. An early lead by Chaparral, just for the Mustangs to storm back. 

Junior setter Tessa Brueggeman was vital to the success the Mustangs had in the third set. She finished the game with 11 digs and was all over the floor defensively for the Mustangs. 

“They did a great job hitting and kept us on our toes,” Tessa Brueggeman said. 

The Mustangs held their own against the hard-hitting firepower of the Firebirds and ultimately grinded out the third set with a victory, 26-24. 

After sweeping the Firebirds, Sunrise Mountain is one-third of the way through the biggest three-game stretch of the year. 

Sunrise Mountain hosts the region-leading Ironwood Eagles on tonight at 6 p.m., before hosting the second-ranked team in the Northwest Valley region, Willow Canyon. The Mustangs lost to both teams earlier in the season. Both games are pivotal for ranking positioning heading into the state playoffs. 

These next games are “huge, huge” for the Mustangs, Jans said. “We need both of those games, and we need the confidence of what we had tonight going forward.”