Marcos de Niza's girls volleyball team took first place in the bronze division Saturday afternoon at the Tournament of Champions. The Padres went a combined 1-5 in pool play on Friday and Saturday, but rallied together once bracket play began.

The Padres persevered and came together despite their rough start in the tournament.  On Saturday afternoon they beat Mountain View (Mesa), Westwood and Ironwood.

Senior setter Jenifer Lauer notched 33 assists and seven aces in the Padres’ three wins. Sophomore middle blocker Hailey White led the team in kills during bracket play with 25. Four of them came in the last five points of the championship match against Ironwood.

“The first day we were very intimidated,” Lauer said. “Today we came in with nothing to lose. We have something to prove in these big tournaments.”

After dropping the first set in the championship match to Ironwood, 24-26, head coach Mel Yee stayed calm, knowing her team could force a third set and be in position to pull off the victory since the Padres were able to win both of their previous games in the third sets.

“We pretty much handed Ironwood the first set,” Yee said. She told the girls “Let’s go out there to fight and play our game.”

They went on to beat Ironwood 25-16 and 15-8 in the next two sets.

“It feels amazing,” White said. “This just shows what we are capable of. Just because we go to a small school, that does not mean we can’t play.”

Every team that Marcos de Niza faced was in a higher division than them. However, White believes this helped her team, saying their mentality was to have fun and show the bigger schools what they could do.

When asked about how this tournament will help prepare the girls for region play starting on Monday, Yee said, “Knowing they can compete against the bigger schools, it’s just confidence. When it comes to our conference, we’re ready. We are ready to compete, so this is a good experience for them.”

Marcos de Niza kicks off region play at home Monday at 6 p.m. against Mesquite.