Tyler Kass is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saint Mary's High School for AZPreps365.com

The Saint Mary's Knights stunned their 4A Desert Sky region opponent Saguaro Sabercats, 3-1, at home on Monday. 

St. Mary's (7-6) came into today’s match with only one regional win and lost a tough five-set match to region rival Seton Catholic Prep in their last match on Oct. 5.

The Saguaro Sabercats (7-3) are the 4A conference's ninth-ranked team this week, had only lost one regional matchup. They entered Monday's match after sweeping Mesquite on Oct. 3 before Saguaro's fall break.

The No. 21 Knights fans were excited to see the confidence-boosting win in their first home match of the season.

“It feels good,” St. Mary's captain and senior setter Olivia Castillo said about the upset. “It puts us in a really good spot for region and playoffs, so we hope to continue to win and use this as momentum for the rest of our games.” 

Castillo's teammates who also came up big were senior outside hitters Bridget O’Sullivan and Shelbie Lemm, as well as freshman Elana Clark and sophomorr Mylee McDowell.

O’Sullivan produced team-high 15 kills, three aces, and a block. Lemm came into this match with team-best 238 total kills on the season and 3.7 kills per serve. She started off slow but finished the game with 11 kills. Clark had three kills and a block, and McDowell served two aces.

O'Sullivan felt as though her stellar performance was in part to her feeling a lot more comfortable with her new teammates. 

“At first it was challenging like to adapt to the speed and to playing with new teammates,” O'Sullivan said. “But I think immediately we clicked and I think today was like a big stepping point for our team.”

St. Marys dominated the first set, winning 25-15. 

One struggle in the first set, however, was the team's attacking errors. This came back to haunt the St. Mary's in the second as Saguaro dominated, 25-17. 

The third set was extremely close the whole time, with both teams going back and forth tying up the match. With the Knights down 24-23 and the set on the line, Lemm had back-to-back kills to tie the set then take a 25-24 lead. The Knights ended up winning 26-24 and took a 2-1 over Saguaro. 

“I just know that if I stay calm then everything will fall into place pretty much,” Lemm explained. “Can't really get tense up in a big game like this.”

The fourth set was very similar to the third as both teams went back and forth. With the set tied at 24, O’Sullivan had a huge kill to put the Knights up and one point away from the upset. With Saguaro not able to return the ball during a rally, the Knights won the fourth set 26-24 and the match 3-1. 

St. Mary’s will play the second of its four-game homestand against the winless Marcos de Niza Padres (0-13) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.