Volleyball Recap: Amphitheater Takes Loss Despite Strong Efforts from Kayla Tuakalau and Isabella Espinoza

If Amphitheater was feeling good fresh off their 3-0 takedown of Catalina on Wednesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Panthers came up short against the Desert Sunrise Golden Hawks on Thursday, falling 3-0. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Panthers of the 3-0 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in September of 2024.

The match finished with set scores of 25-9, 25-13, 25-13.

Kayla Tuakalau

Attacks Kills

09/11/25 @ Desert Sunrise	7
09/10/25 @ Catalina	5
09/09/25 @ Walden Grove	10
09/08/25 vs Sabino	9
09/04/25 vs Andrada Polytechnic	13
08/28/25 vs Pueblo	8

Despite the loss, Amphitheater had strong showings from Isabella Espinoza, who had 11 assists and two aces, and Kayla Tuakalau, who had seven kills and one block. Tuakalau is on a roll when it comes to kills, as she's now had five or more in each of the last six games she's played.

Amphitheater now has a losing record of 3-4. As for Desert Sunrise, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-2.

Coming up, Amphitheater will take on Sunnyside at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. As for Desert Sunrise, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 2-0 defeat against Crismon on the 12th.