MHS volleyball team celebrates Senior Night

While the Rams fell 25-12, 25-7, 25-18 to the defending Class 4A-II state champion Seton Catholic Sentinels, the night was about paying tribute to the seniors for their dedication to the Maricopa volleyball program.

“What they have brought is balance,” Maricopa assistant coach Jeff Gamble said. “With the youth that is on the team, they bring that experience factor. They provide that leadership balance. They keep the team on an even keel. If they’re down, they bring them up. If they’re too far up, they bring them down.”

Maricopa head coach Julia Jefferson said the seniors have helped to establish a new tradition for a team that has shown marked improvement throughout this season.

“It’s night and day,” Jefferson said. “We get compliments everywhere we go from every school – Seton being the biggest one.”

In the first game of Tuesday’s match, the Rams battled to an 8-8 tie before Seton Catholic scored seven straight points to build a 15-8 lead. After the Rams closed within 17-12, the Sentinels tallied the final eight points to win 25-12.

Maricopa scored the first three points of the second game, but Seton Catholic responded with a 10-0 rally on the way to a 25-7 win.

The third game was close throughout. After three consecutive service aces by Madalina Cutajar gave the Rams a 16-14 lead, Seton Catholic tied the score at 17-17 and tallied seven more consecutive points to go ahead 24-17. The Sentinels closed out their 25-18 victory with a match-clinching kill by Cayley McLean.

Chyenne Anderson led Maricopa with five kills and four blocks in the match, while Cutajar finished with 15 digs. Jensen added seven digs for the Rams, who also got six assists and a block from Pua Mataele as well as two blocks each from Cori Teller and Paige Provost.

“I thought it took us awhile to get warmed up, but by the third game the girls started playing aggressively,” Jefferson said. “It’s tough to have the state champions as your Senior Night. But I was able to play all my seniors, and everybody did great. It was very memorable.”

Seton Catholic, which is rated third in the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Power Rankings for Class 4A-II, improved to 13-3 in the power-point standings and 11-2 in the 4A-II East Sky Region.

Maricopa stood at 9-15 in all matches, 3-13 in the power-point standings and 2-11 in the East Sky Region heading into Thursday’s regular-season finale at Tempe.