Rams fall to Arcadia in straight sets

Sophomore Chyenne Anderson scored three kills, one blocked shot, and a service ace while fellow sophomore Julia Dickerson added two kills and a service ace, but it wasn’t enough. The Maricopa Rams girls’ volleyball team fell to the Arcadia High School in straight sets at home. Set scores were 25-17, 25-12, and 25-17.

The Rams fell to 1-12 on the season, while the Titans improved to 9-3.

The Rams jumped out to an immediate lead in the opening set on the strength of Anderson’s block. But the teams would quickly trade serves, knotting the score at 5-5. Arcadia would then go on a run, scoring 8 consecutive points with strong outside hitting.

Dickerson put an end to the run with the first of her kills, but the damage was done. Small runs, keyed primarily by Titan hitting and service errors, kept the score close, but the final result was clearly related to the kills they mounted midway through the game.

The Titans led nearly the entire second game, scoring 7 of the first 11 points of the game. Mounting a small run, the Rams were able to tie the score at 7-7, driven by service aces by Tatum Early. But it was the last time the game was to be competitive, however; as Arcadia would score 7 of the next 8 points to go ahead 8-19.

Arcadia finished the game with a 4-6 stretch, with 2 of the Ram points coming as the result of hitting errors by Arcadia.

In the third set, the Rams were able to jump out to an early lead, scoring the first 3 points on the strength of a kill from senior Caitlin Snow and a service ace by fellow senior Tabitha Hoctor. The Titans were quickly able to tie at 3-3. The Rams then made another run, scoring 8 of the next 9 points, including kills from Snow and Anderson, along with a block by sophomore Cori Teller.

Rolling to 11-4 in the final set, Maricopa saw the lead slip away almost as quickly they’d earned it. Scoring 10 of the next 11 points, the Titans took the lead thanks to strong hitting and help from some untimely hitting errors by the Rams.

Arcadia would not trail for the rest of the set as the Titans put together an another run of 9 points. The only points the Rams would score the rest of the night would come on Titan hitting errors.

Next up, the Rams will host Williams Field High School (6-6) on Tuesday, Oct.13.

Photo by David Vargas