Hamilton handles Perry in matchup of top girls high school volleyball teams
Two of Arizona's top-ranked girls high school volleyball teams clashed Thurdsay in a match that showed why they are potential 6A championship contenders.
Hamilton, No. 2 in this weeks's Arizona Interscholastic Association 6A rankings, remained undefeated in conference play, taking down No. 4 Perry in straight sets but it came with a bit of drama.
After winning the first two sets handily, Hamilton suddenly let Perry back into the match, as the Pumas went on a 6-0 run to go up 19-13 in the third set.
At this point the Huskies head coach, Sharon Vanis, called a timeout to get her team back on track.
"I told them we were up two to nothing. They were playing to not lose but they already had two games under their belt," said Vanis. "I told them no more unforced errors or anything like that and they did that. They played a good game of volleyball."
Following the timeout, Hamilton, the defending state 6A champions, went on a 7-3 run, putting them right back into the game. With the score now 22-20, Perry had to use its first timeout of the set.
The timeout did not phase the Huskies as they won the next three points to take a 23-22 lead. Perry used its second timeout once it got down. Vanis kept her team on the court while Perry huddled trying to get its game plan together.
Although Perry took the first point out of the timeout, Hamilton did not break and won back-to-back points to clinch the game.
After Perry got the win in the two teams previous match earlier in the season at the House of Payne tournament, which does not count in conference play, Vanis was shocked to see her team dominate as they did on Wednesday.
"I would have never thought we would come in here and compete. We gave Perry a good run. I would have never thought we would sweep. Its huge for us. They will come to our place and do the same thing but we got this one now and we will enjoy it," said Vanis.
Despite not having their best player, Lauren Mullings, the Huskies had many key contributors to their win.
Senior outside hitter Neomi Beach made a big impact throughout the entire match. Beach tallied 20 kills, including eight in the final set, and picked up three service aces as well.
Beach got a lot of her help from setter Melia Barlow. Barlow was an assists machine as she racked up 29 of them in the match. The senior was also able to tack on four kills on balls that looked like they would be set but instead fell on the other side of the net.
"Those two (Beach and Barlow) really stepped up. Melia made some really smart plays and Nemo has kind of been really dominate and great for us all year," said Vanis.
Perry players also showed why they ranked No. 4 in the state.
Senior Avery Burks, an outside hitter, finished with 13 kills and two blocks. Burks performance was a key for Perry getting its lead in the third set.
Sophomore outside hitter Avery Stones had a crazy run while serving where she picked up four service aces on consecutive serves.
The teams will meet each other again on Oct. 19.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hamilton handles Perry in matchup of top girls high school volleyball teams
