Gabriella Salguero is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sierra Linda High School for AZPreps365.com

The Sierra Linda Bulldogs got off to a slow start but used a strong finish in the third set Thursday night en route to sweeping  La Joya Community, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21.

The Bulldogs started off strong offensively and consistently made crucial plays on defense to dominate the Lobos in the first two sets. 

However,  the Lobos got off to a quick 4-0 lead in the third set. 

“I think oftentimes we would get stuck in rotations,” Sierra Linda coach Alysa Wertz said. “We started to adjust, play defense more efficiently and everything started to flow in our direction.”

The Lobos’ largest lead in the third set was at 17-5. At that point, Wertz called a timeout and made her girls run sprints. This was a way to get the girls to wake up and move their feet, and that’s when the momentum in the game changed.

Sierra Linda’s comeback started with a 6-0 rally that included three consecutive kills from their captain, Debanhi Aguiar. 

“In the timeout, we talked about how much harder we need to work to catch up to them,” Aguiar said. “We said, ‘Come on, we got to fight. It starts with us,’ and we pulled ourselves together.”

Aguiar showed her dominance in the game with 14 kills. She tallied nine kills in the third set alone.

As the Bulldogs continuously cut into the Lobos’ lead, Aguiar had another kill streak with four kills in a row, making the score 16-20.

Once the Bulldogs began to move their feet on the court and communicate effectively everything started to run smoothly for them, throwing the Lobos off their almost-perfect game in the third set. 

“We have a lot of drills to help us move our feet,” Bulldogs defensive specialist Kyrie Munoz said. “Play your line. That’s most important. Make sure to always cover your blockers and make sure you read the other hitter.”

After the Lobos scored their final point in the game, with a 21-16 score, the Bulldogs had a five-point rally, tying up the game, 21-21.

As the rally continued, the coaches, players on the bench and crowd cheered for their teams. Sierra Linda’s Aryah Clark had a huge block that took the lead for the Bulldogs for the first time in the third set. That was followed by a kill by team captain Stacy Perez, making the score 23-21.

The match point was served by Aguiar and as the rally was being played, the Lobos hit the ball over the net and landed out-of-bounds that sealed the win for the Bulldogs, 25-21.

The Bulldogs went on a nine-point rally to 25 points in the final set.

“Work ethic and mentality is very important,” Wertz said. “Obviously we were down at least 10 points at one point in the set, but we kept pushing and moving our feet.”

Sierra Linda (7-4) is now on a three-game winning streak and has a 4-0 record in the 5A Central Valley region. The Bulldogs will face the Aztecs (3-8, 2-3) at Copper Canyon on Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.

The Lobos (5-6, 3-2) will compete in the Goldwater Volleyball Festival at Barry Goldwater High School this weekend.