Andrew Montana is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Apollo High School for AZPreps365.com.

PHOENIX - Despite key injuries to the starting lineup, the Apollo Hawks volleyball team narrowly prevailed Tuesday night against the Camelback Spartans in four sets with scores of 27-25, 19-25, 26-24 and 25-23.

Three of Apollo’s starters were out with injuries heading into the match, including sophomore libero Tia Curtis. Only eight plays into the match, senior libero Gracie Gonzales rolled her ankle and was sidelined for the rest of the night.

“It looks like an ankle sprain,” Hawks coach Chris Biesbrouck said. “She’s going to ice it up tonight and see our trainer tomorrow, so we’ll know a little bit more by then.” 

Despite Gonzales’ injury and eight lead changes, the Hawks outlasted the Spartans by two points to end the set behind junior middle blocker Brooklyn Whitson’s five kills.

The second set, however, belonged to Camelback, featuring an 8-1 run and a subsequent 7-2 run. Surpassing her nerves, a roaring spike from junior middle blocker Dallyce Wilfert, who had four kills and one ace in the second set, tied the match.

“If you bring the emotions on the court, you get distracted easily,” Wilfert said. “If I feel like I’m going down, I like encouraging my teammates because it lifts their spirits, which lifts my spirits.” 

Set three was a nail-biter as Apollo went on a 6-0 run, including two timely aces by Whitson to take a 24-20 lead. Then, Camelback went on a 4-0 run to tie the match. After two errors by the Spartans, the Hawks took the set, 26-24, and a 2-1 lead. 

Set four had a similar ending to its predecessor as Apollo held a 21-14 lead, followed by an 8-1 Camelback run and a final effort by Apollo to win the set and the match. The fourth set was iced by senior middle hitter Tianna Cliff with a kill, an ace and a trademark deafening screech.

Despite the loss, Camelback coach Corey Calugcugan-Simms praised the performances of Wilfert and Devi Baumgartner, who racked up a match-high 14 kills and four aces.

“She’s a captain on our team,” Calugcugan-Simms said. “She brings everybody up, she knows the right thing to say on the court at all times, she’s consistent and she keeps her emotions in check all the time.” 

As for Apollo, this match wound up in the hands of its bench players. Many Hawks found themselves having to adapt to new positions on the fly, including junior setter Natalie Matthies, who thrived as a right side hitter in this match.

“I have been trained in pretty much every position on the court,” Matthies said. “That helped a lot with knowing where I am supposed to be in positions that I am not normally playing.” 

With three kills and two aces, Matthies’ impact on the court surpassed the walls of the box score as her communication, experience and versatility were essential in Apollo’s victory, especially when three of the four sets were decided by two points.

“As a leader on the team, I think it’s really important to have a calmness towards any play," Matthies said. “I know that whatever I am feeling, I have to put out a different feeling to the rest of the team so they know everything is going to be alright.”

Apollo (4-4) will host Shadow Ridge (7-2) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Camelback (1-7) will host Cesar Chavez (3-6) on Friday at 6 p.m.