Sunnyslope upsets Millennium for title
Sunnyslope sent Desert Financial Arena into a frenzy after a thrilling five-set match to win the 5A state volleyball title over Millennium on Tuesday.
“It was up-and-down the whole game,” Sunnyslope coach Amber LeTarte said. “That is what our season has been like. I was looking at the score and going, ‘Dang it, dang it we’re tied,’ and then I saw our girls never gave up. They just kept going.”
In a rematch of last year's championship, Sunnyslope, the 2018 runnerup, had the odds stacked against it entering the match as the No. 7 seed against No. 1-seeded and defending champion Millennium.
Millennium quickly ran out to a 2515 win in the first set.
Juniors Jordan Miller and Olivia Flanagan set the tone with four kills each and four team blocks for a team attack percentage of .231.
After a grueling second set sprinkled with unforced errors by both teams, Sunnyslope's defenders came up big offensively to crawl to a 25-21 win.
In the third set, the Vikings kept the momentum, cruising to a 25-18 win behind their defense.
“(Our defenders) were going after everything,” LeTarte said.
However, Sunnyslope's communication derailed in the fourth set, resulting in open holes across the court for the Tigers to knock in a quick, 25-14 win.
“I felt like our team really started playing individually,” LeTarte said. “They just weren’t really gelling together and things started to shift and break away from each other.”
Heading into the fifth set, Sunnyslope rebounded from a 13-10 deficit for ties at 13 and 14 points before rolling to a 16-14 win on an out-of-bounds hit by Millennium.
“I’m just so happy, I don’t even know how to put it into words,” Sunnyslope junior Olivia Cavazos said. “We worked so hard and we wanted it so bad. I’m just so excited for next season."