Apaches host Lobos, Dawgs host Riders on Tuesday
By Raymundo Frasquillo
DUNCAN – The Kassi Mortensen-coached Duncan Wildkats’ home opener is with the Brooks Dockter-coached Scottsdale Cicero Prep Centurions on Monday, Aug. 31. It is a region match with a 5 p.m. start.
The Wildkats also visit 1A South Region San Simon on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 5 p.m. and host 2A East Region Miami on Friday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m.
Also this week, the Darcy Barney-coached Fort Thomas Apaches host the Winkelman Hayden Lobos for a region match on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. and the 2A East Region San Carlos Braves on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, Willcox hosts Safford and Morenci visits 2A North Region Eagar Round Valley on Aug. 31; Safford hosts Pima, and Thatcher visits Florence Sept. 1; Morenci hosts Miami and Pima hosts Willcox Sept. 2; Safford will participate in the 24-team, 2-dayPayson Tourney on Sept. 4-5; and Pima visits Benson and Thatcher hosts 3A Metro Mountain Region Show Low on Sept. 8.
1A Duncan Wildkats
The Kassi Mortensen-coached Duncan Wildkats opened the season in Elfrida against the Valley Union Blue Devils on Aug. 27. They returned with a close 4-set (25-23, 25-15, 17-25, 26-24) win.
Duncan’s 12-member roster includes three seniors, a junior, four sophomores, and four freshmen. The seniors are Lily Ford (15), Sophia Harris (4), and McKenzie Jones (12); junior Haley Bigler (5); sophomores Emma Harris (7), Peyton Hoglan (8), Karli McKinley (9), and Josie Wright (2); and freshmen Mila Herrera (3), Allie Hughes (11), Ashlyn Jensen (6), and Elyana Whitmer (10).
The Wildkats are competing in the 8-member 1A East Region with the Fort Thomas Apaches, the Kearny Ray Bearcats, the San Manuel Miners, the Scottsdale Cicero Prep Centurions, the Superior Panthers, and the Winkelman Hayden Lobos.
1A Fort Thomas Apaches
Fort Thomas lists a 10-member roster of four seniors, three juniors, and five sophomores. The seniors are Kynnedee Bryce (21), Kelcie Harvey (27), Jamie Johnson (8), and Tranessa Jones (19); juniors Carmen Antonio (10), Maliah Duncan (11), and Dreona Pike (13); and sophomores Carter Hawkins (4), Jalayah Johnson (6), Cadence Olivar (2), Kinlee Pearson (1), and Aaliyah Peter (16).
The Apaches are competing in the 7-member 1A East Region with the Duncan Wildkats, the Kearny Ray Bearcats, the San Manuel Miners, the Scottsdale Cicero Prep Centurions, the Superior Panthers, and the Winkelman Hayden Lobos.
1A East Region
Winkelman Hayden (1-0 overall, 1-0 region), Scottsdale Cicero Prep (1-0, 0-0), Duncan (1-0, 0-0), Fort Thomas (2-3, 0-0), Kearny Ray (0-1, 0-0), San Manuel (0-1, 0-1), and Superior (0-0, 0-0).
Region pairings to date include Hayden over San Manuel in five sets (25-19, 25-19, 24-26, 19-25, 15-5) on Aug. 26.
2A Morenci Wildcats
The Jasmine Aguinaga-coached Morenci Wildcats opened in Willcox with a 4-set loss (25-23, 27-29, 21-25, 18-25) on Aug. 26 and finished seventh during an 8-team tourney in Willcox on Aug. 29.
There are 11 Wildcats on the varsity roster with a lone senior, three juniors, four sophomores, and three freshmen. The senior is Kailee Sandoval (11); juniors Ava Basteen (2), Jayliana Guzzo (1), and Taytum Porter (8); sophomores Araceli Cuhen (4), Analisa Cuhen (6), Kendall Merrill (3), and Justine Tartaglia (5); and freshmen Serenity Chavarria (9), Sophia Davis (6), and Jazmin Williamson (13).
Morenci is competing in the 7-member 2A Southeast Region with the Benson Bobcats, the Bisbee Pumas, the Pima Roughriders, the Sierra Vista American Leadership Guardians, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets, and the Willcox Cowgirls.
2A PIMA Roughriders
The Ruthie Butler-coached Pima Roughriders opened in Fort Thomas on Aug. 26, leaving with a 3-set win.
Pima is competing in the 7-member 2A Southeast Region with the Benson Bobcats, the Bisbee Pumas, the Morenci Wildcats, the Sierra Vista American Leadership Guardians, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets, and the Willcox Cowgirls.
2A Willcox Cowgirls
The Shaye Klump-coached Willcox Cowgirls opened at home with a 4-set (23-25, 29-27, 25-21, 25-18) non-region win over Morenci on Aug. 26. The region match is in Morenci on Oct. 26. The Cowgirls ended the 2nd Cochise County Round-up tourney in third place on Aug. 29.
Willcox has an 11-member roster of four seniors, two juniors, and five sophomores. The seniors are Leslie Barraza (22), Gloria Encinas (8), Lilyana Millenaar (10), and Keely Norris (14); juniors Maley Allred (9) and Karlie Saint Clair (3); and sophomores Grace Flanders (2), Hattie Macumber (1), Camry Thompson (6), Lia Villa (4), and Lilly Williams (17).
Willcox is competing in the 7-member 2A Southeast Region with the Benson Bobcats, the Bisbee Pumas, the Morenci Wildcats, the Pima Roughriders, the Sierra Vista American Leadership Guardians, and the Tombstone Yellow Jackets.
2A Southeast Region
The first week region standings are Willcox (4-1 overall, 0-0 region), Bisbee (1-5, 0-0), Benson (1-0, 0-0), Pima (1-0, 0-0), Tombstone (2-4, 0-0), Morenci (1-4, 0-0), and Sierra Vista American Leadership (3-1, 0-0).
3A Safford Bulldogs
The Makenna Farr-coached Safford Bulldogs opened with a 4-set (25-22, 20-25, 18-25, 23-25) loss in Benson on Aug. 26.
Safford lists a 13-member roster of five seniors, five juniors, and three sophomores. The seniors are Jaycee Gable, MacKenna Macario, Gabriella Moreno, Jazzlyn Mortensen, and Lanae Shurtz; juniors Kassity Anderson, Kailana Beck, Jaydyn Coy, Martina Reyes, and Alicia Torres; and sophomores Aubri Bonilla, Milee Carter, and Kalia Cordova.
The Bulldogs are competing in the 9-member 3A South Region with the Thatcher Eagles, and Tucson schools the Amphitheater Panthers, the Andrada Polytechnic Mustangs, the Empire Ravens, the Palo Verde Magnet Titans, the Pusch Ridge Christian Lions, the Sabino Sabercats, and the Tanque Verde Hawks.
3A Thatcher Eagles
The Marcie Lopeman-coached Thatcher Eagles opened with a 3-set (25-12, 25-6, 25-13) region win in Tucson over Sabino on Aug. 27.
Thatcher lists a 13-member roster of five seniors, five juniors, and three sophomores. The seniors are Tessa Bryce (1), Marlie Farris (7), Matti Gallett (8), Taylor Henrie (9), and Lillie Welker (14); juniors Jordin Bedford (5), Alli Jihnson (11), Jocelyn Lunt (12), Payten Lunt (3), and Brinlee Skousen (10); and sophomores Makayla Cash (15), Rylen Montoya (4), and Charlotte Tysoe (2).
The Eagles are competing in the 9-member 3A South Region with the Safford Bulldogs, and Tucson schools the Amphitheater Panthers, the Andrada Polytechnic Mustangs, the Empire Ravens, the Palo Verde Magnet Titans, the Pusch Ridge Christian Lions, the Sabino Sabercats, and the Tanque Verde Hawks.
3A South Region
Early region standings are Thatcher (1-0 overall, 1-0 region), Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (1-0, 0-0), Tucson Amphitheater (1-0, 0-0), Tucson Empire (1-0, 0-0), Safford (0-1, 0-0), Tucson Tanque Verde (0-1, 0-0), Tucson Sabino (0-1, 0-0), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (0-0, 0-0), and Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (0-0, 0-0).
2nd Cochise County Roundup
Patagonia topped unbeaten Sierra Vista American Leadership, taking the third set 15-9, to earn the Second Cochise County Roundup title. Last season, the Lobos finished second.
The Lobos qualified for the championship match with three pool play wins of 37-36 over Fort Thomas, 53-20 over Bisbee, and 46-31 over San Simon. Other 1A pool play wins were by Fort Thomas (2-1) 37-33 over San Simon and 44-41 over Bisbee; and San Simon (1-2) 37-35 over Bisbee.
On the 2A side, Sierra Vista topped Morenci 34-31, Tombstone 40-27, and Willcox 41-29; Willcox (2-1) defeated Tombstone 37-26 and Morenci 36-30, and Tombstone downed Morenci 36-29.
A 14-member all-tourney team included Bisbee sophomore Frankie Hernandez (4); Morenci sophomore Justine Tartaglia (5); San Simon junior Bryleigh Sloan (1); Tombstone sophomore Zoey Lepisto Zimpelmay (5); Fort Thomas sophomore Carter Hawkins (4) and senior Tranessa Jones (19); Willcox sophomore Hattie Macumber (1) and junior Karlie Saint Clair (3); junior Estella Murphy-Thorn (21), sophomore Logan Mazzanti (11), and junior Julie Rawlings (3); and Patagonia junior Nicole Carrera (2), junior Monique Snell (3), and senior Amaya Somoza (9).
Saint Clair, Sloan, Snell, Somoza, and Tartaglia were also on the 2025 honor team.
1st Cochise County Roundup
Morenci went 4-0 to capture the inaugural Cochise County Roundup title in 2025. The Greenlee County girls topped the Patagonia Lobos (3-1) 2-0 (25-20, 25-19) for the first-place trophy.
The Wildcats qualified for the championship match with three pool play wins of 42-24 over Tucson San Miguel (0-3), 33-25 over Willcox (2-1), and 32-30 over Tombstone (1-2). Other 2A pool play results were Willcox 37-23 over Tombstone and 50-16 over San Miguel, and Tombstone 33-26 over San Miguel.
On the 1A side, Patagonia (3-0) prevailed 34-31 over Fort Thomas (2-1), 46-24 over Tucson’s The Gregory School (1-2), and 44-28 over San Simon (0-3). The other 1A team results were Fort Thomas 34-27 over San Simon and 35-33 over The Gregory School, and The Gregory School 36-28 over San Simon.
The host Willcox Cowgirls defeated the Fort Thomas Apaches 2-0 (25-18 twice) for third place, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets defeated The Gregory School Hawks 2-0 (25-22, 25-21) for fifth place, and the San Simon Longhorns defeated the San Miguel Catholic Vipers 2-1 (25-15, 22-25, 15-13) for seventh place.
A 14-member all-tourney team included Madilyn Clark (Class of 2026), Jayliana Guzzo (2028), and Justine Tartaglia (2029) of Morenci; Brianna Majalca (2026), Monique Snell (2028), and Amaya Somoza (2027) of Patagonia; Kennedy Ebert (2026) and Karlie Saint Clair (2028) of Willcox; Treyiah DeClay (2026) and Jamie Johnson (2027) of Fort Thomas; A.C. Carroll (2027) of Tombstone; Emerson Myers (2027) of The Gregory School; Bryleigh Sloan (2028) of San Simon; and Camila Iniguez (2028) of San Miguel.
