Emily Brown is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – When Saguaro starting setter Bella Nicholas badly injured her knee in late August during the team's season opener, it forced the team to overhaul its offensive strategy and rebuild on-court chemistry. 

Now in her second year on varsity, the sophomore partially tore her ACL after hyperextending her knee while landing from a serve. 

Head coach John Bundy said he spent the summer designing a 6-2 offense structured around two setters, which was intended to ensure that a setter would be in the back row at all times. This would allow Saguaro to keep three front-row hitters on the court with six main attackers. 

“It really changes a lot of the dynamics of the game and how you play and even how you practice when you don’t have two setters on both sides. You have to change everything you practice,” Bundy said. “It really has just altered, kind of, the whole trajectory of the season.”  

Bundy eventually shifted to a 5-1 system around junior setter Anissa Quezada Hughes, even though the change required altering both game strategies and daily practice routines.

When a single setter rotates to the front row in a 5-1, the team drops from three to two front-row hitters, which structurally limited the Sabercats by redesigning half of their offensive plays on the fly, according to Bundy.

Freshman Charlotte Kilby and senior right-side hitter Mikayla Procopio initially stepped up during the set, where they proved to handle the pressure by leading Saguaro to win three of its four first-week games. 

“It kind of damaged the team morale a little bit when she got hurt because we had to change the lineup. It affects everyone,” Procopio said. 

Procopio said the new rotation altered court timing and created an entirely different team spirit. 

Playing opposite the setter meant she switched to the front row when the setter moved forward, resulting in fewer sets, particularly behind the head. 

Nicholas said created difficult mental and physical hurdles after playing the sport competitively for four years without stopping. Before the injury, she said she had developed a strong rhythm and confidence setting up her teammates. 

“It was definitely really hard mentally getting so into it and then just not being able to do anything volleyball-related for a long time,” Nicholas said. 

Without two starting setters together, Bundy said that the team had to alter how reps are distributed across the roster and adapt to different ball trajectories. 

Nicholas is undergoing physical therapy and has slowly progressed to being able to do light warmups and basic court movements. She is focused on celebrating small victories during her rehab, like flexing her quad and bending her knee. 

“Now, I at least can warm up and do a little bit more movement, but it’s just not the same–especially knowing how it affects everyone out there.” 

Nicholas returned Oct. 15 and Saguaro remained dominant in her absence. The Sabercats hold a 13-5 overall record, a 10-2 conference record and a 5-0 4A Desert Sky Region record. 

The school hosted the Last Chance Invite on Oct. 16.