Marvin Forbes is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Perry High School for AZPreps365.com

Perry boys volleyball defeated the Basha bears in three sets on Thursday, April 17. Basha boys volleyball entered the game with a 12-13 record looking to create an upset against the red hot Pumas. 

In the first set, the top-ranked Pumas were on their heels trailing the Bears early. The energy that Basha came out with was noticeable. The Bears capitalized on a few serve receive errors by the Pumas and opened up a 19-14 lead in set one, causing the Pumas to call timeout.

“Frustrated because of the lack of focus,” was the way that head coach Ryan Tolman described his feelings in the first set.

Luckily for the Pumas, senior middle blocker Caden Ledbetter came to the rescue. Ledbetter’s powerful play above the net lit a fire under the team. The Pumas closed the gap and won the first set on the back of his timely kills.

“I have confidence in this team. Every player on this team can play, we've all shown it. We just had a slow start and I knew we’d eventually figure it out. My mindset is that I want the ball, I wanna bang the ball especially when it’s close,” said Ledbetter in reference to the comeback in set one.

The Pumas earned set one 27-25.

The Pumas took control in the second set with stifling defense. Impressive digs and explosive blocks prevented Basha from getting anything going. With the crowd and momentum on their side, the Pumas went on a scoring run to close out set two.

“We’ve been working a lot on the blocking schemes and getting our middle blockers to be more defensive. Basha did a few things different from what we’ve seen, their tempo is fast and they had some inside sets that we didn’t pick up. So we still got some work to do but defensively we did a good job,” said head coach Tolman.

The middle blockers rose to the challenge, stuffing multiple potential kills above the net. 

The Pumas rolled to a 25-13 set two victory.

Basha did not give up in the third set despite dropping the first two, as both sides traded blows. The Bears led towards the end of the third after gaining some energy from the visiting crowd. 

Once again Basha proved they could capitalize on mistakes that the Pumas made in serve receive. The Bears strung together a few beautiful serves until Ledbetter checked back into the game.

The senior came in and immediately made his presence known above the net, stopping Basha’s run. On top of that, the Pumas also put together some beautiful serves late in set three.

Momentum swung yet again and the Pumas closed it out winning the third and final set 25-22.

“We served very well, especially towards the end. That really put Basha out of system and helped us succeed,” said senior libero Ryan Carraro.

The Pumas are continuing to play their best volleyball as the season comes to a close. With the number one seed in their grasp and a state championship in sight, the Pumas are taking everything they can get. 

The Pumas will be back in action April 19-20 for tournament play. They’ll look to sharpen their sword and stay healthy through this stretch.