Jorge Ian Guajardo is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Corona del Sol for AZPreps365.com

TEMPE – Corona del Sol returned to the winner’s circle after a tough loss, led by three of their team’s hitters, who managed to tally 42 kills and three blocks in a four-set win over Pinnacle on Monday.

Last Thursday, the Aztecs fell to top-ranked Xavier in three sets, but Corona opened Monday's match with an impressive 25-11 first set victory before Pinnacle fought back to win the second set 25-23. The Aztecs wouldn’t let that derail their night, however, winning the last two sets, 25-13 and 25-15, to seal their 29th victory of the year.

Senior middle blocker Hayden Conner embraced the responsibility of driving the team’s point production.

“I feel like it's a big responsibility. I mean, our job is to have the mentality to put the ball away,” Conner said. “I feel like being able to do that puts trust into your teammates. Our passers are the ones who set it up for us, so just having that mentality and then having your peers have that trust in you is a big thing.”

Conner wasn’t the only one who had a big night. Fellow senior and outside hitter Paige Nenaber had 12 kills, and sophomore opposite hitter Jalynn Drake had 13 kills.

Nenaber and Drake had nothing but praise for their teammates after their performance.

“Having trust in your teammates and relying on them, too, for good defense and good passes for us to be able to score and put the ball away,” Nenaber said.

“My teammates are just very positive when they talk to me,” Drake said. “They guide me on the court and pick me up when I get blocked or something not good. I know they always have my back and pick me up next time.”

For Corona del Sol, it was this trio that made the impact during their largest runs of the game.

Early on in the third set, as the Aztecs jumped out to a 6-1 lead, Conner and Drake each led the way with three kills. Later in the set, during a 13-5 run, all three made at least a kill to keep the momentum going and secure the set victory.

The second set, however, saw the Pioneers answer back, led by an outside hitter of their own, Ava Crawford, who led the way with 13 kills. Pinnacle coach Caitlin Lord was impressed with Crawford’s ability in Monday’s match.

“She hasn't played the middle in several seasons, so for her to be able to come back and apply feedback quickly, doing something that she hasn't done in a long time, is so crucial,” Lord said.  “She's also such a leader, energy-wise and communication-wise, and the girls really look to her and trust her experience on this team.”

Corona dominated the final two sets of the match with each member of the trio adding to the scoring column, none bigger than the 12-3 run to start the third set, where all three players notched at least two kills each, with Nenaber adding five kills and Drake adding three.

Coach Ben Maxfield was pleased with his team’s sense of urgency.

“We always talk about the need to have urgency,” Maxfield said. “We can't just let teams like Pinnacle, that are good teams, hang around, so you need to have urgency and go after them and put them away,”

Corona del Sol (29-4) will play at Sunnyslope (20-12) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, and Pinnacle (16-11) will host  Boulder Creek (16-18) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.