Salpointe Catholic girls volleyball coach Heather Moore-Martin likes to call them “little wins.”
She tells her team to master the finite details at practice. Do that, she says, and you’ll put yourself in the best possible place to succeed the next day once you leave the court.
“Get fed, get to bed,” she said. “Have your uniform set out in the morning and be ready to go.”
The Lancers (17-2) hope those small victories can lead to the biggest one of the season. On Saturday, second-seeded Salpointe Catholic will take on undefeated and top-seeded Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep (17-0) in the Class 4A state championship match.
This season marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that Salpointe Catholic has made the state final. The Lancers won back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017.
The 11 a.m. start time at Gilbert Mesquite High School means Salpointe will departing Tucson at sunrise. That shouldn’t be a problem, Moore-Martin said: Many Lancers players have been involved in club volleyball, and they know all too well the feeling of leaving town early to play in Phoenix.
Notre Dame Prep enters the match as the favorite to win, something the Salpointe Catholic team is acutely aware of.
The two schools met Oct. 29 in Scottsdale, with the Saints taking down the Lancers 25-18, 25-13, 25-14.
“They kicked our butts last time,” Moore-Martin said. “They’re really good.”
Moore-Martin believes her team matches up well with Notre Dame at a handful of positions, but will need much more of a combined team effort to win the title.
Thursday night’s state semifinal match against Flagstaff was a good example. The Lancers beat the Eagles 25-19, 25-8, 25-18, thanks in part to the play of upperclassmen. Senior Andrea Owens led the Lancers with 12 kills, junior Meena Moore added seven and sophomore Frankie Pieroni and junior Emma Hugeback had six apiece. Hugeback and senior Sofia Pena had three service aces apiece. Senior Bianca DeVitis led Salpointe with 16 digs.
Now, the Lancers will try to do it again.
“We have our work cut out for us, it’s going to be tough,” she said. “But we’re going to show up and give them a great run.”
Win or lose, Moore-Martin says the team had handled the adversity and challenges better than she could have hoped for during a pandemic-shortened season.
“We all love each other,” the coach said. “That’ll be the reason we win, if we do.”
