Saint Mary's is looking for consistency this season.

After the Knights (6-5) lost their season-opener to 4A conference's Desert Sky regional opponent Mesquite on Aug. 23, they went on a three-game win streak outside in non-regional play, won three of its next seven matches.

The conference's 18th-ranked Saint Mary's has just one victory out of four regional games entering October, when the state tournament picture begins to take shape.

The Knights' next opponent will be at the struggling 21st-ranked Seton Catholic Sentinels (3-8), which has the same amount of region wins, on Thursday at 6 p.m.

St. Mary’s will look to start a winning streak after picking up its first regional win on Sept. 28 as it swept Marcos De Niza, 3-0.

Senior outside hitter and captain Shelbie Lemm made sure the team stayed ready with intensity at its Wednesday practice ahead of the match. 

“Sometimes we'll have a good practice or we'll struggle a little bit,” said Lemm. “But you can't really tell that in the game because I feel like we always put in effort.

Players also have different ways of preparing themselves for the match. 

“I stay locked in the whole day during school...and I maintain a positive attitude,” said senior defensive specialist Samantha Mosqueda on how she gets ready on game day. “I make sure I eat well and I listen to hype music. Me and my team members are just focusing on what's gonna happen in the game”  

For Seton Catholic, their only regional win also came against Marcos de Niza as well on August 23, the team's first match of the season.

The Sentinels enter Thursday’s contest after dropping six straight matches, and looking to finally pick up a home win. Their last win came on Sept. 8 against the ALA-Queen Creek.

St. Mary's senior setter and captain Olivia Castillo feels as though the Sentinels' losing streak gives the Knights more motivation.by not wanting to be the team that ends Seton Catholic's skid. 

“Hopefully we can take advantage of that and come in with a goal to win and not worry about how they're doing,” said Castillo.  

This is the Knights' last match for over a week, and return to play hosting Saguaro on Oct. 16. They'll look to take the momentum of a two-game winning streak into the break.