Shirell Washington is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Deer Valley High School for AZPreps365.com

With a thrilling display of hard work and determination, the Deer Valley girls volleyball team posted its first win of the season Thursday night, sweeping  Agua Fria, 25-16, 25-21,25-13. 

“I’m feeling really great. I felt like it was very well needed,” junior middle hitter Morgan Walker said. “We worked very hard, so just to finally be able to come together and win this game is very important for us.”

The Skyhawks secured an early lead, 10-4, in the first set recording four kills, three from outside hitter Jaida Teraji and one from junior outside hitter Bella Figueroa. 

The Owls attempted a comeback after going on a 4-0 run that almost tied the game, with the Skyhawks leading, 12-11. This run included block assists from senior middle blocker Nadiyyah Northern and junior opposite hitter Macklyn Weeg, an ace from sophomore middle blocker and outside hitter Jordan Ruiz, and a kill from senior outside hitter Tami Balogun.

However, the Owls were not able to keep the ball in their court as the Skyhawks continued to dominate the first set going on a 13-5 run, keeping the Owls at bay and winning the first set, 25-16.  

Two aces from sophomore outside hitter Izzy Darnell and quick-thinking from sophomore setter Hailey Berg to tip the ball over gave Deer Valley a  4-0 lead in the second set.

This set was a close one. The Skyhawks held the lead 10-4, but the Owls recorded two aces by junior outside hitter Mya Lewis narrowing the score to 8-10. Teams traded points back and forth, Skyhawks were up 14-13 until the Owls tied the score 14-14 after the ball went out of bounds. 

A few serving errors from the Skyhawks and kills from the Owls kept this set on edge. Leah Orth, Deer Valley assistant coach, stepped into head coaching duties as head coach Jackie Wallace was not at the game. Orth said the team had fewer errors than in previous matches but that there were errors in the second set that kept the score close. 

“They stayed calm, they worked together and they minimized their errors,” Orth said. "I think we just had a rough serving run in the second game (set).”

With the teams tied, Deer Valley called a timeout and it was enough to get them back in the lead, 18-17. However, Agua Fria did not back down and went on a 4-2 run putting the Owls up by one, 21-20. 

The Skyhawks were not done yet. Deer Valley responded with a 5-0 run with two kills from Darnell and an ace from Berg led them to win the second set, 25-21.

“Even though our normal coaches are not here we're still going to play our hardest and do our best,” Teraji said.

The third set was a quick one. Skyhawks had five aces, seven kills and one block assist for the set. The Owls’ defense could not shake Deer Valley, having not led once in the third set. Agua Fria’s mental toughness was tested but it was only met with serving errors. Skyhawks were up 13-6 when Agua Fria coach Jenifer Weeg called a timeout, but the Owls could not put it together.

"We seem to have really good plays but we can’t mentally push over the top,” Weeg said, “so we need to stay focused and not let three points go at a time and push through the fatigue.”

After the timeout, the Owls were unable to cut into the Skyhawks' lead. Deer Valley going on another big run, 12-7, closed out the third set, 25-13.

Deer Valley (1-8,1-8) will travel to Bell Bank Park at the Legacy Sports Complex for the Nike TOC Invitational hosted by Chandler Prep on Saturday. Agua Fria (1-7,1-6) will travel to Peoria High School on Tuesday at 6 p.m.