Central Bobcats Outlast Carl Hayden in Five Sets, Gain Ground in 5A-Metro Conference

Oct 15, 2021 12:00 AM PST

By Dexter Zinman

PHOENIX – The Central High School Bobcats emerged from their locker room wearing special bright pink uniforms for breast cancer awareness month. After a loss to Chandler in those jerseys the previous night, they redeemed themselves with their most exciting victory of the season.  

The Bobcats (4-11, 4-2) defeated The Carl Hayden Community Falcons (1-12, 1-5) in five sets (27-25, 27-29, 27-29, 25-23, 15-8) Thursday night at home. Of the five sets played, the first three required extra volleyball after three consecutive 25-25 ties. It was their first five set match of the season.  

For the Bobcats, it was a win of resilience. For the Falcons, it was a case of their endurance running out. 

“At the end I think we just ran out of steam,” Carl Hayden coach Andrew Scott said. “I’ll leave it at that. We ran out of steam there in game five.” 

The Bobcats trailed the Falcons two sets to one going into the fourth. Rather than run out of steam, they found a way to come back. 

“I thought it would be challenging, but the freshmen girls that I played really stepped up and pulled through,” Bobcats coach Laura Phillips said. 

Central was faced with a tough reality entering the fourth game. Were they to force a fifth set, three of their players would have to be removed per IAI rules. Players can only play a maximum of six sets, and The Bobcats had three players who had played in the JV match earlier that night. 

One of those players was freshman Bethany Ulibarri, who exited the game leading her team in kills with 14. No other player finished the night with more than four. 

When the Bobcats won the fourth set, they needed to win one more without their best offensive threat on the court. They managed. 

“I’m really proud of them,” coach Phillips said. 

Carl Hayden has had previous success against Central in extra volleyball this season. In their 3-1 loss to Central Sept. 22, their one set win was a 26-24 extra volleyball victory. They are now 4-1 on the season against Central in sets that go into extras.   

“We do a lot of endurance training in practice to make sure the girls know that it could go five games,” coach Scott said. “You work hard to do it.”

Playing time wasn’t the only thing that led to the Falcons running out of steam. Despite the close scores, The Bobcats dominated the offensive chances throughout all 5 sets. 

Carl Hayden amassed 108 digs as a team, compared to Central’s 62. Junior libero Britzia Arguelles had 42 digs for the Falcons on her own. 

Coach Scott said he’s noticed his team’s defensive numbers over the last few games, particularly from his libero.   

“Really important,” Scott said. “The libero is always there for that first hit, and that consistency helps.”

The Bobcats played a very versatile game, with many players showing their abilities in both the offensive and defensive aspects in each set. 

Ulibarri added nine digs to her team leading 14 kills. Sophomore Abigail Hernandez had 14 digs and four kills. Junior Priscilla Monjolo had four kills and seven digs. 

All three players also added at least one ace, with Hernandez having a team-leading three. 

“You just want to be flexible around each position you play,” Monjolo said. “You just got to be comfortable playing each position and getting to know it a little bit more, because it might end up being a position you like.” 

With the win tonight, Central gained ground in their conference. They entered the game tonight in second place. Coach Phillips is continuing to plan ahead for a first place push.

“One thing we’re going to work on in practice is my new lineup working well together,” Phillips said. “A lot of them have not played together, so working them together more, and then just working on communication, teambuilding.” 

Central continues their conference push at Sierra Linda (3-10, 2-3) on Tuesday. Carl Hayden visits Fairfax (2-15, 2-3) for a conference match Tuesday as well.