The newly ranked No. 9 Horizon Huskies took on the winless Gilbert Tigers at Gilbert Thursday night.

Gilbert still couldn’t pull off the home court win, losing in three sets, 21-25, 12-25 and 15-25.

The Tigers started off positive against the fatigued Huskies, who played their third game this week, by gaining the first two points of the game.

On the other side of the net, there were three strong Husky blockers, Claire Smith, Jozlyn Byers and Karen Scanlon.

Smith, a junior, has a strong court presence along with being positively vocal. Almost every single play her voice could be heard, helping her teammates out.

Her distribution of the ball to her setters looked to be at a level above most high school players.

Gilbert led the first set all the way up until the 17th point when Horizon tied the game. The Tigers gave up two points from net violations.

Horizon took over and put their frustration aside, finishing the final eight points of the set.

“We started serving away from libero, she’s a really, really good libero (Savannah Tanner), so I thought that we responded pretty well,” Horizon head coach Valorie Mckenzie said.

“That means a lot, I don’t know what to say, it touches my heart that people notice me as a player,” said Tanner.

The second set began, favoring the Huskies most the set. Gilbert’s defense from the first set had disappeared.

Horizon’s players were placing the ball into the gaps on the court right where the ball should be.

“They were really coachable tonight, we found open areas on the court and they started using that well,” Mckenzie said. “We were able to hit line, I think our blocking improved as the match went on and we started getting some good blocks.”

Kat Yung, Horizon libero, played an excellent game, throwing her body on the floor in multiple instances to keep the ball in play for the Huskies.

Horizon led the third and final set. The team had seven straight points before Gilbert head coach Joe Hesse called a timeout.

The Tigers came back from the timeout and scored their first point of the set, and scored another two points bringing the set to 3-7. Horizon slowly pulled away after Gilbert’s few points.

Even though the Huskies had a large lead, the Tigers didn’t give up and pushed till the end of the match.

“We’re still working hard, our schedule is not conducive for a team that’s down to find its way up very easily,” said Hesse.

The Huskies will take a six-day break before the team plays again at Sandra Day O’Connor on September 27.

“If we keep playing steady ball, it’s where you are at the end that really matters, so I just want to keep improving,” Mckenzie said of Horizon’s ranking.

Gilbert will move onward to the Red Mountain Tournament of Champions starting the morning of Friday, September 22.

“I am going to try my hardest, try to ball out and bring my team together, stay positive and keep away from the negatives,” Tanner said.