Denair and Delhi High volleyball teams met for the first time this season in a Southern Athletic League match at the Hawks' home on Monday.

The Denair Coyotes team started the first match on fire, winning 25-23— but by the second match, all the momentum had switched over and Delhi took it to the net in the next three sets (9-25, 20-25 and 12-25).

“I just told the girls to keep positive thoughts — play hard and work hard — and we achieved a lot. We played better than the last couple of matches, but we are going to have a couple difficult teams to play coming up...we need to play better overall and that is what I tell the team,” Delhi head coach Adriana Nunez said.

The Hawks were able to keep their composure and they came together to overcome their league rivals in a total team effort.

“My team is real young. Out of my nine girls on my team, three are underclassmen and that is tough because sometimes these girls need to step it up and put it at the right place at the right time,” Nunez said.

Things looked like they would be neck and neck by the end of the first set, but when the second match began, Delhi looked like a completely different team. A team possessed and ready to win, and they did just that.

The only other close set would be the third when it was 20-25, but Denair faltered soon after.

“We struggled to gain back the momentum and really dug deep, and fought hard. There were some great rallies, however, we could not seem to win the point,” Denair head coach Courtney Nutcher said.

Denair will face off against Gustine at home at 4:30 p.m. Monday. Delhi will travel to Ripon Christian on Monday.