Haynie-Sampson duo reaches quarterfinals
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The No. 7 Thatcher Eagles (12-2 seeding, 10.6275 rating) topped the No. 10 Chandler Prep Titans (11-4, 8.2007) 5-1 on April 29. The Division III state tourney first-round win vaulted the Eagles into the second or quarterfinal round against No. 2 Yuma Catholic (12-0, 192486) at the Ray Kroc Sports Complex on Tuesday, May 6. In the first round, the Shamrocks eliminated No. 15 Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (9-5, 5.5300) 5-0.
The other Section I qualifier, the No. 13 Duncan Wildkats (11-1, 5.3238), bowed out of the state meet via a 0-5 loss to the No. 4 Phoenix Country Day School Eagles (9-2, 14.5075) during the first round.
Division III State Tournament
Eight teams advanced to the next round of the Division III state tourney via wins in the first round. The quarterfinals, at the higher seed, will be held on May 6.
Upper bracket pairings winners were No. 1 Scottsdale Cicero Prep (13-0 seeding, 21.2953 rating) 6-0 over No. 16 Tucson’s The Gregory School (7-3, 4.0906), No. 9 Gilbert Christian (10-2, 8.7328) 5-1 over No. 8 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (7-3, 8.8729), No. 5 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (11-2, 14.4883) 5-2 over No. 12 Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-4, 7.4009), and PCDS over Duncan.
The lower bracket had No. 3 Flagstaff Northland Prep (9-0, 15.9449) 6-0 over No. 14 Tucson Tanque Verde (9-4, 6.6678), Thatcher over Chandler Prep, No. 6 Scottsdale Prep (12-2, 14.3732) 5-3 over No. 11 Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (9-4, 7.8200), and Yuma Catholic over Benjamin Franklin.
No. 2 Yuma Catholic Shamrocks (13-0)
Yuma Catholic has an eight-member team with senior Grace Lanning, junior Annie Scarborough, sophomores Laila Carillo, Chloe Dammeyer, Mia Godoy, Abigail Olsen, and Claire Olsen, and freshman Paloma Smith.
The Section VII champion Kenneth Sandoval-coached Shamrocks are 80-7-1 in singles (113-14 sets) and 32-4 in doubles.
Top seed Lanning is 13-0 in singles and 26-0 in sets played, No. 2 Scarborough (11-0, 22-0 sets), No. 3 Abigail Olsen (11-1-1, 19-3 sets), No. 4 Claire Olsen (12-1, 18-0 sets), No. 5 Dammeyer (12-0, 24-0 sets), No. 6 Smith (10-3, 21-7 sets), Godoy (0-2, 0-4 sets), and Carillo (1-0, 2-0).
The No. 1 duo of Lanning – Scarborough is 8-1, No. 2 Olsen – Olsen 8-1, No. 3 Dammeyer – Smith 10-0, Lanning – Abigail Olsen 3-0, Scarborough – Claire Olsen 1-0, Claire Olsen – Dammeyer 1-0, Claire Olsen – Smith 1-0, Smith – Godoy 0-1, and Godoy – Carillo 0-1.
Yuma Catholic has seeding wins over Glendale Prep (8-1, March 8), Kingman (9-0, March 19), Chandler Seton Catholic (8-1, March 24), Avondale Saint Johns Paul II Catholic (7-2), Wellton Antelope Union (9-0, March 27), Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (7-2), Phoenix Northwest Christian (8-1, April 3), Florence (9-0), Casa Grande Vista Grande (9-0), Buckeye Odyssey Institute (9-0), Somerton (9-0, April 17), and Phoenix Country Day School (6-3, April 22).
No. 7 Thatcher Eagles (13-2)
Thatcher has an eight-member team with seniors Emily Sampson, Audrey Smith, Kala Turley, and Cambria Wakefield; juniors Katie Bastian, Sophia Haynie, and Savanah Kartchner; and sophomore Sarah Sampson.
The Section I champion Chris Cook-coached Eagles are 80-10 in singles (149-23 sets) and 38-4 in doubles.
Top seed Haynie is 13-2 in singles and 22-6 in sets played, No. 2 Turley (9-5, 18-10 sets), No. 3 Emily Sampson (12-3, 23-6 sets), No. 4 Smith (15-0, 28-0 sets), No. 5 Wakefield (15-0, 28-1 sets), No. 6 Sarah Sampson (13-0, 25-0 sets), and Kartchner (3-0, 5-0 sets).
The No. 1 duo of Haynie – Emily Sampson is 12-2, No. 2 Turley – Smith 12-1, No. 3 Wakefield – Sarah Sampson 12-1, Smith – Kartchner 1-0, and Kartchner – Sarah Sampson 1-0.
Thatcher has seeding wins over Globe (9-0, Feb. 27), Safford (9-0, March 3), Tucson Sabino (9-0, March 5), Chandler Prep (7-2, March 6), Morenci (9-0, March 27), Benson (9-0, April 1), Willcox (9-0, April 3), Pima (9-0, April 8), Safford (9-0, April 10), Tucson’ The Gregory School (8-1, April 14), Duncan (9-0, April 15), and Miami (9-0, April 17) along with losses to Sierra Vista Buena (4-5, Feb. 28), Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (4-5, March 26).
Phoenix Country Day – 5, Duncan – 0
The host Eagles were awarded two forfeit wins, one in singles to sophomore Tara Ghafouri and doubles to Ghafouri and sophomore Camila Acharya, as Duncan freshman Elvalie Vigil was unavailable.
In head-to-head pairings, it was junior Zara Campbell over senior Emily Kempton 2-0 (6-2, 6-0), senior Sophie Valente over senior Camille Miller 2-0 (6-1 twice), freshman Mary Bartolino over junior Emily Evans 2-0 (6-0 twice).
The junior Lily Ford versus senior Lauren Russo and the sophomore Heidi Miller vs. junior Lexie Black singles pairings needed to be completed, as the first team to win five matches is declared the winner.
Thatcher – 5, Chandler Prep -1
The host Eagles prevailed during five of six singles with Sophia Haynie, Emily Sampson, Audrey Smith, Cambria Wakefield and Sarah Sampson topping sophomore Satomi Small 2-0 (6-1 twice), freshman Assa Ndiour 2-0 (6-2, 7-6), freshman Stacy Jones 2-0 (6-1, 6-0), senior Aubrey Antoniello in a tie-breaker 2-1 (4-6, 6-4, 10-5), and senior Alessandra Booth 2-0 (6-1, 6-4), respectively.
Chandler Prep junior Elise Yeung defeated Kala Turley 2-0 (6-3, 6-0).
Yuma Catholic – 5, Benjamin Franklin -0
The Shamrocks posted wins by senior Grace Lanning, 2-0 (6-3 twice) over junior Isa Monastero; junior Annie Scarborough, 2-0 (6-1 twice) over junior Leah Buchanan; sophomore Claire Olsen, 2-0 (6-4, 6-2) over senior Karalee Sanders; sophomore Chloe Dammeyer, 2-0 (6-1, 6-3) over senior Maddie Earl; and freshman Paloma Smith, 2-0 (6-2, 6-3) over senior Leila Tanner.
Sophomore Abigail Olsen’s pairing with freshman Gia Monastero did not need to be completed.
Division III Final rankings
The final rankings for the Division III Top 16 of 52 teams on April 24 were No. 1 Scottsdale Cicero Prep (13-0 seeding, 21.2953 rating), No. 2 Yuma Catholic (12-0, 19.2486), No. 3 Flagstaff Northland Prep (9-0, 15.9449), No. 4 Phoenix Country Day School (9-2, 14.5075), No. 5 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (11-2, 14.4883), No. 6 Scottsdale Prep (12-2, 14.3732), No. 7 Thatcher (12-2 seeding, 10.6275 rating), and No. 8 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (7-3, 8.8729).
Gilbert Christian (10-2, 8.7328) was No. 9, Chandler Prep (11-4, 8.2007) No. 10, Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (9-4, 7.8200) No. 11, Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-4, 7.4009) No. 12, Duncan (11-1, 5.3238) No. 13, Tucson Tanque Verde (9-4, 6.6678) No. 14, Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (9-5, 5.5300) No. 15, and Tucson’s The Gregory School (7-3, 4.0906) No. 16.
Rankings for the other seven Section I teams were No. 19 for Safford (9-5, 1.5410), No. 29 for Pima (6-5, minus 2.9320), No. 32 for Miami (5-6, minus 4.7496), No. 35 for Willcox (4-7, minus 7.6101), No. 39 for Benson (5-9, minus 9.3517), No. 42 for Morenci (2-10, minus 10.5162), and No. 46 for Globe (0-10, minus 15.4808).
Division III Individual State Tourneys
The individual state tourneys had 14 Section I student-athletes for the first round on May 2. The Glendale Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 W. Thunderbird Rd., is the site. Singles matches start at 1 p.m. and the doubles at 2:30 p.m. The doubles teams numbered two from Thatcher and Safford, both had two doubles teams, and both Duncan and Miami had one each. In singles, entrants numbered two from Thatcher. The Eagles went 3-2, the Wildkats 1-1, the Bulldogs 0-2, and the Vandals 0-1 in doubles.
Sixth-ranked junior Sophia Haynie – senior Emily Sampson (12-2) defeated Desert Christian juniors Alondra Jimenez – Kate Steckler (7-1) in two sets (6-2, 6-1) during the first round on May 2, Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills senior Marie Tenney – freshman Tayte Eastman (4-3) in two sets (6-2, 6-1) during the second round on May 2, Chandler Prep junior Elise Yeung – freshman Assa Ndiour (8-3) in a tie-breaker 10-7 after splits sets (4-6, 6-1) during the quarterfinals on May 3, and bowed out via a two-set (1-6, 5-7) semifinal loss to Scottsdale Cicero Prep junior Bianca Carbone – sophomore Bryn Hermenanu (9- 0).
Duncan seniors Emily Kempton – Camille Miller (13-1) advanced via a 10-7 tie-breaker following a split (6-3, 2-6) over Thatcher seniors Kala Turley – Audrey Smith (12-1) during the first round, and bowed out with a two-set (1-6, 3-6) loss to Phoenix Country Day junior Zara Campbell – freshman Mary Bartolino during the second round.
The other Section I doubles teams bowed out in the first round. Safford senior Charlotte Graham – junior Phoebe Tarnutzer (4-0) fell in two sets (1-6, 0–6) to fifth-ranked Flagstaff Northland Prep senior Amelia Raab – sophomore Grace Daab (4-1), Safford senior Alexis Neal – sophomore Iris Green (6-1) in two sets (3-6, 1-6) to Tanque Verde sophomore Jeanie McCallum – freshman Mally McCallum (4-0), and Miami juniors Adrina Kaulaity – Daisy Pacheco (6-4) in two sets (3-6, 2-6) to Yuma Catholic sophomore Chloe Dammeyer – freshman Paloma Smith (10-0).
Top-ranked Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian senior Estelle Festis and freshman Taryn Martin met No. 2 Scottsdale Cicero Prep Carbone-Hermananu for the championship on May 5. Carbone – Hermenanu won the tie-breaker 10-0 after splitting sets (4-6, 6-3) with Festis – Martin, and the 2025 title.
In singles, Thatcher sophomore Sarah Sampson (12-0, 23-0 sets) eliminated Gilbert Christian sophomore Lauren Kheshvadjian (8-1, 16-2 sets) 7-6 (2) and 6-4 during the first round before falling in two sets (0-6 twice) to top ranked Scottsdale Prep Noelle Oh (14-0, 27-2 in sets) during the second round.
Thatcher senior Cambria Wakefield (14-0, 26-0 sets) fell in two sets (0-6, 2-6) to second-ranked Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep freshman Maya Litt (10-2, 21-5 sets) during the first round.
The Top 8 ranked singles players advanced to the quarterfinals on May 3, with the Top 2 meeting for the championship on May 5. Second-ranked Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep freshman Maya Litt defeated No. 1 Scottsdale Prep junior Noelle Oh in two sets (6-2, 6-4) for the title.
