Luis Rincon is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler Preparatory Academy for AZPreps365.com

The No. 2-ranked Chandler Prep Titans girls volleyball team lost to the No. 3-ranked Scottsdale Christian Eagles in a 2A Central matchup at home in a 3-0 sweep on Tuesday.

Both teams entered the match with five straight wins under their belts, but the Eagles (23-7, 5-0) won all three sets over the Titans (21-4, 4-2) by seven points or more – 25-18, 25-15, 25-18. 

“We have played some pretty high competition this year, playing in tournaments against 5A and 6A schools. We know we can play at a high level,"  Eagles coach Julie Dickerson said. “I feel like as long as Eagles play Eagles volleyball I feel pretty confident.”

In the first set the Eagles caught fire, going on a 9-1 run and took a commanding 15-6 lead which included back-to-back aces from defensive specialist Lilly Lach. 

Titans middle blocker Mikky Dunmar responded with three kills in a Chandler Prep 10-3 run which cut the Eagles’ lead to four. Being down only 18-22, the run got the crowd involved as people stomped their feet and yelled from the stands. 

However, the Eagles went on to win the set with three straight points, which included two kills from outside hitter Kaya Olafson.

In the second set the Eagles took a 7-3 lead but the Titans kept it tight with efforts from the whole team all the way until the score was 14-18.

The set concluded with a sudden change in aggression from Scottsdale Christian. The Eagles scored six straight and went on a 7-1 run to put the Titans down 2-0. 

Olafson finished the set with five kills.

“We were expecting it to be difficult,” Titans coach Courtnee Oglesby said. “ We knew that we could play with them but we had to be super high energy because they were going to challenge us and we knew that.”

After a strong kill from Titans middle hitter Tehya Ajei to open the third set, the Eagles responded  and gained a 16-7 lead.

At this point in the set a timeout was called by Oglesby, who said she not only called the timeout with the intention to motivate her team, but also to ice the Eagles’ servers. Up to this point in the set the Eagles had two aces and many of their serves had ace potential. 

“I was telling them that they need to make sure their energy is up and that they’re communicating with each other,” Oglesby said. “Our serve receive was a little weak at the same time so we had to make sure  that we were getting good passes, passes that were off the net and playable.”

The timeout sparked a run from the Titans with another three points from Dunmar including two blocks and a kill. The Eagles still led but the score was 16-18 and the stands were rocking. Students, parents and others from the home crowd were chanting, yelling and stomping their feet as their Titans were coming back. 

The run came at the right time, but it wasn’t enough to win the set. The Titans only scored two more points in the set and Olafson showed up again with two kills to seal the victory. 

“It was pretty good. I kind of thought I was a little rusty,” Olafson said. “It was still fun just to compete. We knew this team would be good and put up a great fight. It's just good to pull off the win.”

The Eagles’ victory puts them at 5-0 in region play, keeping them in first place in the 2A Central region. 

The Titans are second in the region with a 4-2 record. 

“Every night that we get to watch this team on the court is a good night, " Dickerson said. “They brought great energy into a gym that's not easy to come and play in against the number two ranked team. We couldn't have asked for more.”

On Thursday, the Eagles (23-7, 5-0) play at Heritage Academy in Mesa  (10-10, 3-2).

The Titans (21-4) will end their regular season Thursday at No. 4 Glendale Prep (19-2, 12-0).

Both games will be played at 6 p.m.