Eagles fall in five sets during play-in round
By Raymundo Frasquillo
GOODYEAR – The Robert Abalos-coached No. 9 Safford Bulldogs (13-4 seeding, 11.0058 rating) meets No. 8 Parker (14-2, 13.1110) at 9 a.m. and No. 14 Tucson Tanque Verde (12-5, 5.2264) faces No. 3 Phoenix Northwest Christian (16-2, 22.0741) at 3 p.m., both on the Goodyear Millennium campus, 14802 West Wigwam Boulevard.
Safford dispatched No. 24 Chinle (9-9, 1.8944) as No. 9 in four sets (23-25, 28-26, 25-9, 25-23) and Tanque Verde sent home No. 19 Ganado (9-7, 2.6878) in three sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-15) on Nov. 5.
The other two South Region play-in participants, No. 17 Tucson Empire (11-6, 3.8356) fell to No. 16 Fort Defiance Window Rock (11-6, 4.7605) in three sets (11-25, 24-26, 16-25) and No. 23 Thatcher (7-10, 1.9430) in five sets (23-25, 29-27, 11-25, 25-12, 11-15) to No. 10 Florence (12-5, 9.5849).
Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian earned an automatic bid by finishing first in the region and drew a bye for the play-in round via a top-eight ranking. The No. 6 Lions (16-2, 15.7653) meet No. 11 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (12-5, 9.3013) at 1 p.m.
3A State Tourney
The rest of the first round pairing at Millennium include No. 7 Chandler Seton Catholic Prep (14-4, 14.0140) versus No. 10 Florence (12-5, 9.5849) at 9 a.m., No. 1 Chandler Valley Christian (18-0 seeding, 30.5360 rating) vs. No. 16 Window Rock (11-6, 4.7605) and No. 2 Gilbert Christian (16-2, 22.3692) vs. No. 15 Show Low (10-7, 5.0559) at 11 a.m., No. 5 Snowflake (15-2, 16.2701) vs. No. 12 Buckeye Odyssey Institute (10-7, 6.1681) at 1 p.m., and No. 4 Kayenta Monument Valley (16-1, 18.1387) vs. No. 13 Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (9-9, 5.7525) at 3 p.m.
Millennium will host the quarterfinals on Nov. 9 at 5 and 7 p.m.; Phoenix Mountain Pointe, 4201 East Knox Road, the semifinals on Nov. 12 at 5 and 7 p.m.: and the championship is in the Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1826 West McDowell Road on Nov. 16 at 12:15 p.m.
3A State Play-in Round
In the other Play-in matches, it was No. 11 ALA – West Foothills (12-5 seeding, 9.3013 rating) 3-1 over No. 22 Tuba City (6-9, 2.1860), No. 12 Odyssey Institute (10-7, 6.1681) 3-1 over No. 21 Lakeside Blue Ridge (7-10, 2.3212), No. 13 Benjamin Franklin (9-9, 5.7525) 3-0 over No. 20 Yuma Catholic (11-7, 2.6493), and No. 15 Show Low (10-7, 8-0) 3-0 over No. 18 Payson (11-7, 3.7733).
3A State Final Rankings
The final Top 16 of 43 Class 3A rankings following the play-in round on Nov. 5, had Valley Christian (18-0 seeding, 30.5360 rating) No. 1, Gilbert Christian (16-2, 22.3692) No. 2, Northwest Christian (16-2, 22.0741) No. 3, Monument Valley (16-1, 18.1387) No. 4, Snowflake (15-2, 16.2701) No. 5, Pusch Ridge (16-2, 15.7653) No. 6, Seton Catholic (14-4, 14.0140) No. 7, and Parker (14-2, 13.1110) No. 8.
Safford (13-4 seeding, 11.0058 rating) was No. 9, Florence (12-5, 9.5849) No. 10, ALA – West Foothills (12-5, 9.3013) No. 11, Odyssey Institute (10-7, 6.1681) No. 12, Benjamin Franklin (9-9, 5.7525) No. 13, Tanque Verde (12-5, 5.2264) No. 14, Show Low (10-7, 5.0559) No. 15, and Window Rock (11-6, 4.7605) No. 16.
Empire (11-6, 3.8356) was No. 17, Payson (11-7, 3.7733) No. 18, Ganado (9-7, 2.6878) No. 19, Yuma Catholic (11-7, 2.6493) No. 20, Blue Ridge (7-10, 2.3212) No. 21, Tuba City (6-9, 2.1860) No. 22, Thatcher (7-10, 1.9430) No. 23, and Chinle (9-9, 1.8944) No. 24.
The initial Top 24 Class 3A rankings at noon on Oct. 1 listed Valley Christian (8-0 seeding, 24.4470 rating) No. 1, Northwest Christian (9-1, 19.7856) No. 2, Gilbert Christian (8-2, 14.1978) No. 3, Monument Valley (7-1, 13.6899) No. 4, Pusch Ridge (6-2, 11.4919) No. 5, Snowflake (6-1, 9.9682) No. 6, Parker (4-1, 9.7019) No. 7, and Seton Catholic (7-3, 14.0140) No. 8.
Window Rock (8-2, 9.0103) was No. 9, Safford (5-2, 8.7749) No. 10, ALA – West Foothills (5-4, 6.6877) No. 11, Tanque Verde (6-2, 6.0962) No. 12, Florence (6-3, 5.3002) No. 13, Odyssey Institute (5-4, 4.9337) No. 14, Payson (8-1, 4.8823) No. 15, and Empire (6-2, 3.9266) No. 16.
Show Low (5-3, 3.6317) was No. 17, Coolidge (6-2, 2.8584) No. 18, Tuba City (3-5, 2.4623) No. 19, Ganado (5-3, 2.2994) No. 20, Winslow (6-3, 2.1094) No. 21, Benjamin Franklin (4-5, 0.9302) No. 22, Blue Ridge (3-6, minus 0.1932) No. 23, and Apache Junction (4-3, minus 0.5757) No. 24.
South Region Final Standings
Region member final standings as of Oct. 31 were Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (16-2 seeding, 8-0 region), Safford (13-4, 7-1), Tucson Tanque Verde (12-5, 5-3), Thatcher (7-10, 5-3), Tucson Empire (11-6, 5-3), Tucson Sabino (5-12, 3-5), Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (6-12, 2-6), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (3-13, 1-7), and Tucson Catalina (0-14, 0-8).
