(Xavier Prep won its fourth sand volleyball title Friday. Photo by Jose Garcia/azpreps365.com)

The gap between Xavier Prep and the rest of the teams is closing in a high school sport that continues to expand in Arizona.

But the queen of sand volleyball, Xavier Prep, which has won every state title since the introduction of the high school sport four seasons ago, isn’t ready to resign. Xavier Prep’s reign at Glendale’s Victory Lane Sports Complex continued Friday, but unlike the previous seasons, Xavier Prep was challenged this season before getting crowned champ again.

“This one (fourth title) is different,” Xavier’s coach Tim McHale said. “The talent pool is definitely deeper. Highland is a great program. Chaparral is on board. And it was really nice to see Queen Creek and Valley Vista continue to grow up with us.

“This group (Xavier) is amazing. We’ve had some random stuff happen to kids us this year. So everybody, all season long, carried the load this year.”

(Xavier Prep)

State semifinalist Valley Vista won two of its five doubles matches against Xavier Prep, but Highland only won one of its five doubles matches against Xavier Prep. 

Xavier’s No. 2 (Caroline White and Kasie Thompson) and No. 3 (Kristen Klein and Emma Cisneros-Luebke) won their matches to clinch the title for their team. But the best match of the final was saved for last, which teams play even after an opponent claims three doubles victories. 

Highland’s No. 1 doubles team of Sienna Sawyer and Sierra Gibson and Xavier’s No. 1 (Natalie Braun and Macy Gordon) played three games, the only time a match went the distance during the championship match-up. The scores of Sawyer and Gibson’s moral victory were 13-21, 23-21, 15-5, allowing them finish the season likely as the state’s top doubles team and with a 12-0 record. 

This was the first time that Highland participated during the sand volleyball season, which attracted an all-time high 18 schools this year.

“We are extremely proud of what we’ve done in our inaugural season, demonstrating we can compete with teams that have been doing it for years,” Highland coach Greg Erickson said. “We established a foundation.”

                         (Highland's sand volleyball team celebrates its state runner-up finish. Photo by Jose Garcia/azpreps365.com)