Iyonna Zortman put Amphi ahead with a kill in the first game of the TUSD Invitational championship on Saturday. The Panthers went on to win.

Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star

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The Amphitheater girls volleyball team ended last season with a loss to Sabino in the first round of the 4A-I state championships. But in a rematch Saturday in the TUSD Invitational championship, Amphi avenged the loss beating the Sabercats 25-23, 20-25, 15-12.

"Last year was our first year going to state in at least 10 years. We played Sabino in our first match and we lost to them in five," coach Rachel Williams said. "It was one of those matches where it could have gone either way. Anything could have happened."

The same was true for the rematch. In the third game, Sabino led by as much as five points before letting Amphi take a 14-12 lead with an unforced hitting error.

"I think probably unforced errors (made the difference)," Sabino coach John Kramkowski said. "We're really not able to avoid that catastrophic hitting error, serve receive error or setting error that really has just taken the life out of a rally or taken the life out of a run that we're on."

In the first game, a kill from Iyonna Zortman put the Panthers out front with a 2-0 lead. The game was tied three times before Amphi pulled away.

"It was really exciting because last year, I was actually the one who hit the game winning point out," said Zortman, who lead the team with eight kills and an ace. "I'm excited for this year because we're going to be really good."

Sabino took a 2-0 lead in the second game by shutting Zortman down at the net. The teams were tied seven different times, including 20-20, before a tip from Emily Gregg put Sabino ahead for good.

Gregg led the Sabercats with 10 kills while teammate Maddie Bushman contributed seven kills, an ace and a block.

"The skill level at Amphi has improved tremendously —that's a talented volleyball team," Kramkowski said.

Amphi's Sam Reynolds had a game high 19 assists.

"Our whole thing was ownage and payback this year," Reynolds said. "We came out fighting because we wanted it for sure and we had to want it more than them."

● See all of Saturday's scores from the TUSD Invitational on page C11.