Eagles use 15-12 fifth set over Dawgs to secure region title
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The Marcie Lopeman-coached No. 11 Thatcher Eagles (11-6, 8.3554) host the No. 22 Ganado Hornets (11-6, 3.1708) on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. for a Play-in Round match. The Makenna Farr-coached No. 20 Bulldogs (8-9, 4.1911) travel to Tucson to face the No. 13 Empire Ravens (13-4, 8.0994), also on Nov. 4 for a 6 p.m. match.
Five fifth-set points determined the outcome of two regular-season pairings for the two Graham County programs, 15-13 for Safford on Sept. 23 and 15-12 for Thatcher on Oct. (13-4, 8.0994), with the Eagles moving up two slots and the Bulldogs remaining the same as before the last pairing.
Overall, Thatcher is 15-14 in matches and 58-42 in sets won, while Safford is 16-14 in matches and 49-44 in sets won.
3A Play-in Round (Nov. 4)
The higher seeds have home matches versus the lower seeds, as No. 9 Yuma Catholic (16-2 seeding, 10.4217 rating) hosts No. 24 Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood (7-10, 0.6246), Payson (13-5, 8.9539) No. 10 hosts No. 23 Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (7-10, 1.8962) No. 23, No. 11 Thatcher (11-6, 8.3554) hosts No. 22 Ganado (11-6, 3.1708), and No. 12 Tucson Tanque Verde (13-3, 8.3048) hosts No. 21 Fort Defiance Window Rock (10-6, 3.2106) for 6 p.m. starts.
Additionally, No. 13 Tucson Empire (13-4, 8.0994) hosts No. 20 Safford (8-9, 4.1911), No. 14 Tuba City (11-5, 7.9710) hosts No. 19 Parker (10-7, 4.8838), No. 17 Chandler Seton Catholic Prep (11-7, 7.8125) hosts No. 18 Buckeye Odyssey Institute (11-7, 5.6447), and No. 16 Lakeside Blue Ridge (9-8, 6.2373) hosts No. 17 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (11-7, 5.8825) also for 6 p.m. starts.
The winners meet the Top eight teams in the first round, beginning on Nov. 8 at Goodyear Millennium, 14802 West Wigwam Boulevard.
No. 20 SAFFORD Bulldogs (4.111 rating)
Safford (16-14 overall, 8-9 seeding, 4-4 South Region for fifth of nine) played 17 seeding matches with wins of 3-1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-10) over 4A Gila Region Rio Rico on Sept. 2, 3-1 (30-28, 25-14, 17-25, 25-14) over 4A Gila Region Sahuarita on Sept. 3, 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-10) over Palo Verde Magnet on Sept. 15, 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13) over Thatcher on Sept.23, 3-0 (20-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-19) over 3A Metro Region Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood on Sept. 25, 3-0 over Catalina on Oct. 2, 3-0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-17) over Sabino on Oct. 16, and 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-9) over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 21 along with losses of 0-3 (11-25, 18-25, 21-25) to 3A East Region Lakeside Blue Ridge on Sept. 4, 2-3 (25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 12-15) to 5A Sonoran Region Tucson Canyon del Oro on Sept. 8, 0-3 (12-25, 9-25, 11-25) to 3A Central Region Chandler Valley Christian on Sept. 16, 1-3 (9-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-25) to 3A East Region Snowflake on Sept. 30, 2-3 (11-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-8, 13-15) to Empire on Oct. 8, 0-3 (13-25, 23-25, 13-25) to Pusch Ridge on Oct. 14, 0-3 (20-25, 17-25, 19-25) to Show Low on Oct. 20, 1-3 (24-26, 25-23, 17-25, 17-25) to Tanque Verde on Oct. 23,. And 2-3 (18-25, 25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 12-15) to Thatcher on Oct. 29.
The Makenna Farr-coached Bulldogs also went 2-3 during the San Tan Valley Combs tourney on Sept. 12-13 and 6-2 during the Snowflake tourney on Sept. 19-20.
Safford has a 13-member roster of eight seniors, three juniors, and two sophomores. The seniors are Marina Balistreri (11), Kai-Lee Cordova (5), Alana Foxworth (6), Jerzi Hawkins (8), Rhylie Klajda (4), Mia Peru (12), Bianca Quintero (7), and Alexis Rope (10); juniors Mackenna Macario (9), Jazzlyn Mortensen (3), and Lanae Shurtz (13); and sophomores Kassidy Anderson (2) and Jadyn Coy (1).
The Bulldogs competed in the 9-member 3A South Region with the Thatcher Eagles, along with Tucson schools, the Empire Ravens, the Andrada Polytechnic Mavericks, the Catalina Trojans, the Palo Verde Magnet Titans, the Pusch Ridge Christian Lions, the Sabino Sabercats, and the Tanque Verde Hawks.
Farr is in her initial season as the head coach, following a 4-year (2021-24) Robert Abalos (103-52-1 overall, 49-19 seeding, 27-9 region, 23-13 at home, 1-4 state playoffs, 2-0 play-in round).
3A No. 11 THATCHER Eagles (8.3554 rating)
Thatcher (15-14 overall, 11-6 seeding, 8-0 3A South Region for first of nine) played 17 seeding matches with wins of 3-0 (25-12 thrice) over 4A Gila Region Tucson Amphitheater on Aug. 27, 3-1 (27-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-17) over 3A Central Region Chandler Seton Catholic Prep on Sept. 2, 3-0 (25-8, 25-21, 30-28) over Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian on Sept. 9, 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-11, 15-13) over Tanque Verde on Sept. 30, 3-0 (25-9, 25-10, 25-15) over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 6, 3-0 (25-6, 25-6, 25-10) Catalina on Oct. 9, 3-0 over Empire on Oct. 14, 3-0 (25-10, 25-11, 25-10) over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 16, 3-1 (25-23, 16-25, 28-26, 25-20) over Pusch Ridge on Oct. 21, 3-0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-11) over Sabino on Oct. 24, and 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 15-12) over Safford on Oct. 29 along with losses of 1-3 (18-25, 13-25, 25-15, 30-32) to 4A Gila Region Sahuarita on Sept. 11, in 3-sets to 3A Metro region Payson (21-25, 17-25, 18-25) on Sept. 15, and 2-3 (17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 13-15) to Safford on Sept. 23, and 0-3 (16-25, 19-25, 21-25) to 3A Central Region Chandler Valley Christian on Oct. 2, 0-3 (17-25, 14-25, 23-25) to 3A East Region Snowflake on Oct. 7, and 0-3 (22-25, 23-25, 23-25) to 3A East Region Show Low on Oct. 27.
The Marcie Lopeman-coached Eagles also went 2-4 during the 2-day Mesa Westwood tourney on Sept. 5-6 and 3-4 during the 2-day Snowflake tourney Sept. 19-20.
Thatcher has a 14-member roster of five seniors, five juniors, and four sophomores. The seniors are Tyla Bryce (1), Shaylee Hughes (10), Lanie Larson (6), Makenzie Lunt (11), and Kylia Nelson (9); juniors Tessa Bryce (5), Marlee Farris (7), Matti Gallett (8), Taylor Henrie (14), and Lillie Welker (4; and sophomores Allie Johnson (2), Jocelyn Lunt (12), Payten Lunt (3), and Brinlee Skousen (13).
The Eagles competed in the 9-member 3A South Region with the Safford Bulldogs, along with Tucson schools, the Empire Ravens, the Andrada Polytechnic Mavericks, the Catalina Trojans, the Palo Verde Magnet Titans, the Pusch Ridge Christian Lions, the Sabino Sabercats, and the Tanque Verde Hawks.
3A State Rankings
Final rankings for teams ranked Nos. 9-24 as of 11 a.m. on Oct. 31 were Yuma Catholic (16-2, 10.4217) was No. 9, Payson (13-5, 8.9539) No. 10, Thatcher (11-6, 8.3554) No. 11, Tucson Tanque Verde (13-3, 8.3048) No. 12, Tucson Empire (13-4, 8.0994) No. 13, Tuba City (11-5, 7.9710) No. 14, Chandler Seton Catholic Prep (11-7, 7.8125) No. 15, and Lakeside Blue Ridge (9-8, 6.2373) No. 16.
Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (11-7, 5.8825) was No. 17, Buckeye Odyssey Institute (11-7, 5.6447) No. 18, Parker (10-7, 4.8838) No. 19, Safford (8-9, 4.1911) No. 20, Fort Defiance Window Rock (10-6, 3.2106) No. 21, Ganado (11-6, 3.1708) No. 22, Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (7-10, 1.8962) No. 23, and Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood (7-10, 0.6246) No. 24.
The statewide rankings for the Top 8 of 24 3A teams as of noon on Oct. 29 were Chandler Valley Christian (16-0 seeding, 27.0619 rating) No. 1, Phoenix Northwest Christian (13-2, 18.3413) No. 2, Snowflake (14-2, 16.8886) No. 3, Gilbert Christian (13-4, 16.4768) No. 4, Kayenta Monument Valley (15-2, 14.6072) No. 5, Show Low (14-3, 13.1685) No. 6, Surprise American Leadership – West Foothills (12-3, 12.8499) No. 7, and Florence (14-2, 12.7922) No. 8.
The Oct. 3 or end of first week statewide rankings were Chandler Valley Christian (11-0 seeding, 23.5500 rating) No. 1, Phoenix Northwest Christian (9-1, 18.4450) No. 2, Gilbert Christian (9-3, 13.4548) No. 3, Snowflake (7-2, 12.3288) No. 4, Florence (8-1, 10.9422), No. 5, Kayenta Monument Valley (8-2, 10.0632) No. 6, Show Low (8-2, 9.6836) No. 7, and Payson (9-2, 8.7685) No. 8.
Tucson Empire (8-2, 8.3420) was No. 9, Yuma Catholic (9-1, 7.6493) No. 10, Buckeye Odyssey Institute (7-3, 7.4723) No. 11, Safford (6-4, 7.1150) No. 12, Chandler Seton Catholic Prep (6-4, 6.9887) No. 13, Thatcher (4-4, 5.8980) No. 14, Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (7-5, 5.8888) No. 15, and Lakeside Blue Ridge (5-4, 5.7004) No. 16.
Tucson Tanque Verde (6-3, 4.5450) was No. 17, Surprise American Leadership – West Foothills (4-3, 4.0942) No. 18, Fort Defiance Window Rock (6-2, 2.9266) No. 19, Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood (5-6, 2.6603) No. 20, Tuba City (5-4, 2.5218) No. 21, Ganado (6-3, 2.2120) No. 22, Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (4-6, 2.1396) No. 23, and Coolidge (6-3, 1.3697) No. 24.
3A South Region Final Standings
Region member final standings as of Oct. 30 were Thatcher (15-14 overall, 11-6 seeding, 8-0 region), Tucson Tanque Verde (20-11, 13-3, 7-1), Tucson Empire (16-5, 13-4, 6-2), Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (18-11, 11-7, 5-3), Safford (16-14, 8-9, 4-4), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (9-8, 9-8, 3-5), Tucson Sabino (6-18, 4-13, 2-6), Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (5-23, 5-13, 1-7), and Tucson Catalina (0-14, 0-14, 0-8).
The results for 36 region matches were Thatcher 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-11, 15-3) over Tanque Verde on Sept. 30, 3-0 (25-9, 25-10, 25-15) over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 6, 3-0 (25-6, 25-6, 25-10) Catalina on Oct. 9, 3-0 over Empire on Oct. 14, 3-0 (25-10, 25-11, 25-10) over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 16, 3-1 (25-23, 16-25, 28-26, 25-20) over Pusch Ridge on Oct. 21, 3-0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-11) over Sabino on Oct. 24, and 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 15-12) over Safford on Oct. 29;
Tanque Verde over Catalina (25-9, 25-12, 25-4) on Sept. 23, 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-12) over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 13, 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-18) over Pusch Ridge on Oct. 16, 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-21) over Sabino on Oct. 21, 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 25-17) over Safford on Oct. 23, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-19) over Empire on Oct. 28, and 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-12) over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 29;
Empire 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-10, 22-25, 16-14) over Pusch Ridge on Sept. 30, 3-0 (25-10, 29-27, 25-8) over Sabino on Oct. 2, 3-2 (25-11, 24-26, 25-20, 8-25, 15-13) over Safford on Oct. 8, 3-0 (25-9, 25-8, 25-14) over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 15, and 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-8) over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 29;
Pusch Ridge over Sabino on Oct. 1, 3-0 over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 2, 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-13) over Safford on Oct. 14, 3-0 () over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 27, and 3-0 over Catalina on Oct. 29; Safford 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-10) over Palo Verde Magnet on Sept. 15, 3-0 over Catalina on Oct. 2, 3-0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-17) over Sabino on Oct. 16, and 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-9) over Andrada Polytechnic on Oct. 21;
Andrada Polytechnic 3-2 (26-24, 25-14, 21-25, 15-25, 15-10) over Sabino on Oct. 14, 3-0 over Catalina on Oct. 16, and 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-21) over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 28; Sabino 3-0 over Catalina on Sept. 30 and 3-2 over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 27; and Palo Verde Magnet 3-0 (25-7, 25-14, 25-3) over Catalina on Oct. 23;
Tourney results (accounting for overall records) were Thatcher ending 2-4 during the 2-day Mesa Westwood tourney on Sept. 5-6 and 2-4 during the 2-day Snowflake tourney on Sept. 19-20; Tanque Verde ending 5-3 during the 2-day Tucson Magnet tourney on Aug. 29-30 and 2-5 during the 2-day Tucson Salpointe tourney on Sept. 19-20;
Empire ending 3-1 during the Phoenix Horizon Honors tourney on Sept. 6; Pusch Ridge ending 3-3 during the 2-day Payson tourney on Aug. 29-30 and 4-1 during the 2-day Benjamin Franklin tourney on Sept. 19-20; Safford ending 2-3 during the 2-day San Tan Valley Combs tourney on Sept. 12-13 and 6-2 during the Snowflake tourney;
Sabino ending 2-5 during the Tucson Magnet tourney; Palo Verde Magnet ending 0-5 during the Tucson Magnet tourney and 0-5 during the 2-day Tucson Flowing Wells tourney on Oct. 10-11; and both Andrada Polytechnic and Catalina did not schedule a tourney.
