Wildkats face Cowgirls in Willcox
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The Marcie Lopeman-coached Thatcher Eagles host three opponents this week: the Andrada Polytechnic Mavericks for a region contest on Monday, Oct. 6; the Snowflake Lobos on Tuesday, Oct. 7; and the Catalina Trojans for a region match on Thursday, Oct. 9.
The Eagles (4-4 seeding, 5.8980 rating) begin the week ranked No. 14, the Mavericks (5-2, minus 2.8516) No. 28, Lobos (7-2, 12.3288) No. 4, and the Trojans (0-8, minus 22.0578) No. 45.
Meanwhile, the No. 12 Safford Bulldogs (5-4, 7.1150) welcome the No. 9 Empire Ravens (8-2, 8.3420) on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
3A No. 14 THATCHER Eagles (5.8980 rating)
Thatcher (9-12 overall, 4-4 seeding, 010 region) has played five seeding matches to date, 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, and 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-11, 15-13) over Tanque Verde on Sept. 30 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.
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 are competing 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 No. 12 SAFFORD Bulldogs (7.1150 rating)
Safford (14-9 overall, 6-4 seeding, 2-0 region) has played 10 seeding matches to date 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, and 3-0 over Catalina on Oct. 2 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, and 1-3 (9-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-25) to 3A East Region Snowflake on Sept. 30.
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 are competing 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 South Region
Region member standings as of Oct. 4 were Tucson Empire (8-2 seeding, 2-0 region), Safford (6-4, 2-0), Thatcher (4-4, 1-0), Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (7-5, 2-1), Tucson Tanque Verde (6-3, 1-0), Tucson Sabino (3-7, 1-2), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (5-2, 0-0), Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (4-7, 0-2), and Tucson Catalina (0-9, 0-3).
To date in nine region matches, it was Empire 3-2 over Pusch Ridge on Sept. 30 and 3-0 (25-10, 29-27, 25-8) over Sabino on Oct. 2; Safford 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-10) over Palo Verde Magnet on Sept. 15 and 3-0 over Catalina on Oct. 2; Thatcher 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-11, 15-3) over Tanque Verde on Sept. 30; Pusch Ridge over Sabino on Oct. 1 and 3-0 over Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 2; Tanque Verde over Catalina (25-9, 25-12, 25-4) on Sept. 23; and Sabino 3-0 over Catalina on Sept. 30.
This week (Oct. 6-11), Thatcher hosts Andrada Polytechnic on Monday, Oct. 6; Thatcher hosts 3A East Region Snowflake on Tuesday, Oct. 7; Empire hosts Safford on Wednesday, Oct. 8; Thatcher hosts Catalina on Thursday, Oct. 9; Andrada Polytechnic visits Tucson’s The Gregory School on Friday, Oct. 10; and Palo Verde Magnet will be attending the Amphitheater tourney on Oct. 10-11.
3A State Rankings
The statewide rankings for the Top 24 of 45 3A teams as of Oct. 4 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.
1A No. 23 DUNCAN Wildkats (minus 4.6746 rating)
Duncan (4-12 overall, 4-6 seeding, 1-0 region) has seeding wins of 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19) over San Manuel (Sept. 4), 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-12, 25-7) over Valley Union (Sept. 11), 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-8, 25-22) over Valley Lutheran (Sept. 13), and 3-2 (27-25, 24-26, 25-14, 25-13, 15-5) over Superior on Sept. 23 along with losses of 0-3 (17-25, 23-25, 19-25) to Pima (Aug. 27), 2-3 (17-25, 25-20, 17- 25, 25-11, 14-16) to San Simon (Sept. 2), 1-3 (23-25, 26-24, 22-25, 12-25) to Fort Thomas (Sept. 16), 0-3 (16-25, 7-25, 12-25) to Cicero Prep on Sept. 25, 0-3 to Ray on Sept. 30, and 0-3 to Fort Thomas on Oct. 2.
The Kassi Mortensen-coached Wildkats also went 0-6 during the 2-day Payson on Aug. 29-30.
Duncan has a 14-member roster with seven seniors, three juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen. The seniors include Karleigh Capel (10), Sierra Chamberlin (15), Madison Chatman (13), Lara Elmer (3), Emily Evans (9), Allyssa Garcia (12), and Brendy Paz (2); juniors Lily Ford (11), Sophia Harris (4), and McKenzie Jones (8); sophomores Haley Bigler (5) and Taylor Workman (14); and freshmen Emma Harris (7) and Josie Wright (6).
The Wildkats are competing in the 8-member 1A East Region with the Fort Thomas Apaches, the Kearny Ray Bearcats, the Phoenix Valley Lutheran Flames, the San Manuel Miners, the Scottsdale Cicero Prep Centurions, the Superior Panthers, and the Winkelman Hayden Lobos.
1A East Region
Region member standings as of Oct. 4 were Scottsdale Cicero Prep (11-0 seeding, 4-0 region), Superior (6-2, 1-0), Fort Thomas (8-3, 2-1), Kearny Ray (4-6, 1-1), San Manuel (2-8, 1-1), Phoenix Valley Lutheran (2-8, 1-2), Duncan (4-6, 1-3), and Winkelman Hayden (2-8, 1-4).
A dozen region matches have been played to date, with results of Cicero Prep 3-0 (25-7, 25-7, 25-17) over Hayden on Sept. 16, 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-12) over Fort Thomas on Sept. 18, 3-0 (25-16, 25-7, 25-12) over Duncan on Sept. 25, and 3-0 (25-5, 25-6, 25-19) over Ray on Oct. 2; Superior 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-11) over Hayden on Oct. 2; Fort Thomas 3-0 over Hayden on Sept. 23 and 3-0 over Duncan on Oct. 2; Ray 3-0 over Duncan on Sept. 30; San Manuel 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 12-25, 25-19) over Valley Lutheran on Oct. 2; Valley Lutheran over Hayden 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-13) on Sept. 22; Duncan over Phoenix Valley Lutheran 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-8, 25-22) on Sept. 13; and Hayden 3-2 over San Manuel on Sept. 30.
This week (Oct. 4-11), region member pairings have Superior hosting 3A Central Region Apache Junction and Duncan visiting 2A South Region Willcox on Oct. 6; Superior hosts Fort Thomas, Ray visits San Manuel, Valley Lutheran visits Hayden, and Duncan visits 2A East Region San Carlos on Oct. 7; Superior visits Valley Lutheran, Ray hosts 1A West Region Glendale Desert Heights Prep, San Manuel visits Duncan, and Hayden visits 1A South Region Patagonia on Oct. 9; and Ray visits 2A East Region San Carlos on Oct. 11.
1A State Rankings
The statewide rankings for the Top 16 of 37 1A teams as of Oct. 3 were Scottsdale Cicero Prep (11-0 seeding, 15.8280 rating) No. 1, North Phoenix Prep (9-2, 9.9278) No. 2, Saint David (6-3, 6.5665) No. 3, Joseph City (7-3, 6.5156) No. 4, Ash Fork (9-3, 5.7352) No. 5, Patagonia (9-2, 4.8282) No. 6, Phoenix Great Heart Anthem (9-3, 4.7720) No. 7, and Saint Michael (7-1, 4.4397) No. 8.
Williams (8-4, 2.9194) was No. 9, San Simon (8-1, 2.5222) No. 10, Heber Mogollon (6-5, 2.5143) No. 11, Colorado City El Capitan (6-3, 1.3422) No. 12, Tucson’s The Gregory School (6-4, 0.4733) No. 13, Fort Thomas (7-3, 0.4626) No. 14, Flagstaff Basis (9-3, 0.1486) No. 15, and Salome (5-5, minus 0.2508) No. 16.
