Highland's boys volleyball team had a pretty good experience competing in the 20th annual Wolf Howl Invitational Friday and Saturday at Chandler High.

All the Hawks did was play nine matches. They won them all. They swept them all. They capped the weekend of wins with a 25-21, 25-17 victory over Perry at Chandler High's Payne Gymnasium.

"We've got six guys who've been on varsity now for the third year," Highland coach Jeff Grover said. "It's a good group. This tournament gave them an early chance to prove they can be the best team."

Perry's Gehrig Tolman (13) sets for approaching Cooper Sander (14) in the Pumas loss to Highland. Azpreps365 photo)

Highland (11-0 overall adding power-ranking wins over Hamilton and Brophy) won the final match taking a tight first set followed by setting the tone in the second to prevail more comfortably. In the opening set, the teams jockeyed for the lead with no margin larger than two until Highland went up 16-13. Perry rallied to even things at 18 and from there Highland went on a 6-1 run to triumph. A pair of aces by tournament most valuable player Jace Adams keyed the run. Perry, the defending 6A state champions, didn't help itself with three hitting errors and a net violation during the run. The Hawks Jaren Brown closed the set with a kill. Brown collected five kills in the set.

The second set was a less stressful W - after the first 13 points. Perry led most of that span - save 1-0. A Perry service error made it 7-7. Highland, a 6A semifinalist last season, took control tallying 11of the next 14 points. The Hawks 18-10 advantage was too great that late in the set. Brown finished the set and match with back-to-back kills. Brown produced 10 kills total in the title match. Perry's Jace Miller paced the Pumas unofficailly with nine kills in the title match. H