Amphi's Erin Bradley hits the ball past the block of two Mesquite defenders in the championship match of the Mountain View Invitational.

Mamta Popat / arizona daily star

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Gilbert Mesquite handed the Amphitheater girls volleyball team its first loss of the season Saturday at the Mountain View Invitational.

It took two games in the best-of-three match to decide the winner of the tournament, which hosted 21 teams over two days at the Northwest Side school. Mesquite won with scores of 25-20 and 25-14.

Amphi, now with an 8-1 overall record, had high hopes coming in.

"We were expecting to win it," coach Rachel Williams said. "We have things to work on."

The Panthers tried to regroup, calling three timeouts in the match. Each came when Amphi was down by five or more points.

Jessica Manley, the Panthers' libero, said the loss would not lower the team's expectations this season.

"We're hoping to take state," said Manley, whose team reached the Class 4A-II state semifinals last season. "We'll play better than we just did."

Mesquite coach Taryn Smith thought her team would do well going in.

"I think this gave us confidence in how good we really are," she said.

Mesquite didn't lose a game the entire two-day tournament.

"It's great to make it through a tournament and never lose a game," she said.

The Mesquite coach named Christine Sarger and Kensy Smith as her players of the match.

"We all wanted it so bad," Kensy Smith said.

When asked if there was anything her team needed to work on, Smith said it was focus.

"We need to stay focused and stay excited," she said.

Mesquite beat Scottsdale Notre Dame to reach the final. Notre Dame earned third place by beating Catalina.