The Scorpions’ season-high six-match winning streak came to an end Tuesday, Oct. 4, as visiting Flagstaff High School needed five games to get out of town with a win, 3-2.

“It was a great match, very intense. I thought we were the better team in that match, and I thought we could steal one,” longtime Sedona Red Rock High School volleyball Head Coach John Parks said.

Sedona’s troubles didn’t end Tuesday as the team traveled to Tempe Preparatory Academy on Wednesday, Oct. 5, and again lost in five games, 3-2.

Despite Tempe Preparatory being ranked No. 21 in the Division IV Arizona Interscholastic Association power point polls at 6-6, it has one of the tougher schedules within the division, according to Parks.

Flagstaff is ranked No. 13 in Division II with a 9-1 record, but is good enough to be a final four team when the state playoffs begin in November. Eagles senior Christian Otzen will make sure of that. Otzen had 22 kills Tuesday against the Scorpions.

On Tuesday, Sedona played well out of the gates to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series with a 25-17 win. The Eagles didn’t know what hit them, but regrouped in game two to even the series, 25-22.

Sedona won game three, 25-15, but Flagstaff won game four, 25-14, to send the match to a fifth and decisive game five.

In game five, the Scorpions trailed 6-0 before Parks finally called a timeout. Sedona rallied, going on a 12-7 run before Flagstaff finally put it away, 15-12.

Top performances against the Eagles for Sedona included senior Katie Furlong, who had 17 kills with four blocks, while junior Brenna Barker had 26 assists and two kills of her own. Barker also recorded five digs.

As a team, Flagstaff had 46 kills but had 34 attack errors to Sedona’s 14. The Eagles had nine service errors to the Scorpions’ three.

With the two losses this week, Sedona drops to 10-3 [11-3-1, tournament play] this season and is still ranked No. 2 in the AIA Division IV polls.

Next up, Sedona travels to Orme High School on Wednesday, Oct. 12, with an official start time of 6 p.m.

Sedona returns home Tuesday, Oct. 18, when it plays host to Chino Valley High School. Official start time against the Cougars is set for 6 p.m.