Safford welcomes Tanque Verde on Wednesday
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The Marcie Lopeman-coached Thatcher Eagles (4-0 overall) host the Makenna Farr-coached Safford Bulldogs (7-6-2) on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Thatcher is 31-38 overall and 15-6 in the region under Lopeman, with marks of 4-0 and 1-0 this season, 17-16 and 9-1 in 2025, and 10-22 and 5-5 in 2024. Meanwhile, Safford is 22-21-1 overall and 5-4 in the region under second-year head coach Makenna Farr, finishing 15-15 and 5-4 in 2025.
The Eagles are 1-3 versus the Bulldogs under their third-year (2024-26) head coach. The teams split a pair of 5-set matches last season, with Safford winning the first match fifth set 15-13 (25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13) on Sept. 23, 2025 and Thatcher the second 15-12 (17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 15-12) on Oct. 29, 2025. Thatcher’s other two losses were both in three sets: 21-25, 21-25, and 16-25 on Oct. 30, 2024, and 20-25, 23-25, and 20-25 on Sept. 24, 2024.
This week (Sept. 14-19), Tucson Tanque Verde hosts Tucson Sabino and Tucson Palo Verde Magnet visits San Miguel on Monday, Sept. 14; Thatcher hosts Safford, and Sabino visits Florence on Sept. 15; Tucson Andrada Polytechnic visits Safford, Tanque Verde visits Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian, and Tucson Empire visits Sabino on Sept. 16; Thatcher visits Buckeye Odyssey Institute, Pusch Ridge visits Coolidge, and Tucson Valo Verde Magnet visits Tucson’s The Gregory School on Sept. 17; and
Andrada Polytechnic, Palo Verde Magnet, and Amphitheater will be participating in the 2-day, 8-team Tucson’s The Gregory School tourney, while Tanque Verde will be participating in the 2-day, 8-team Tucson Salpointe Catholic tourney on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 18-19.
3A Safford Bulldogs (2-2 seeding)
The Makenna Farr-coached Safford Bulldogs (7-6-2 overall, 3-2 seeding, 0-0 region) have seeding wins over Willcox of 3-0 on Aug. 31, over Pima of 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-13) on Sept. 1, and over Apache Junction of 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-15) along with losses to Benson of 1-3 (25-22, 20-25, 18-25, 23-25) on Aug. 26 and to Gilbert Christian of 0-3 (23-25, 11-25, 12-25) on Sept. 8.
The Bulldogs also went 3-2 during pool play and 1-2-2 during bracket play in the 2-day Payson Invitational on Sept. 4-5. Safford had 1-0 wins over Fountain Hills (25-20), Flagstaff Northland Prep (30-10), and Joseph City (26-24) and 0-1 losses to Phoenix Northwest Christian (10-30) and Payson (11-30). The Bulldogs went 1-0-1 in bracket play, defeating Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin 2-0 (21-5, 17-12), fell0-2 to Phoenix Northwest Christian and 0-1 to Phoenix North Valley Christian, and tied 1-1 with Lakeside Blue Ridge (16-21, 10-8) and with Show Low (9-21, 16-12).
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 (4-0 seeding)
The Marcie Lopeman-coached Thatcher (4-4 overall, 4-0 seeding, 1-0 region) Eagles have seeding wins over Sabino of 3-0 (25-12, 25-6, 25-13) on Aug. 27, over Florence of 3-1 (27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17) on Sept. 1, over Show Low of 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21) on Sept. 8, and over Coolidge of 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17) on Sept. 10.
In addition, the Eagles fell to Peoria Liberty 0-2 (13-25, 11-25) on Sept. 11 along with Mesa Red Mountain 0-2 (19-25, 14-25), to Scottsdale Desert Mountain 0-2 (21-25, 13-25), and Chandler 0-2 (21-25, 21-25) on Sept. 12 during in the 2-day, 36-team Mesa Westwood tourney.
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
The region standings as of Sept. 12 were Thatcher (4-4 overall, 4-0 seeding, 1-0 region), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (2-2, 2-2, 1-0), Tucson Tanque Verde (6-1, 3-2, 0-0), Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (10-4-1, 2-1, 0-0), Safford (7-6-2, 3-2, 0-0), Tucson Empire (4-7, 2-2, 0-0), Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (0-9*, 0-4, 0-0), Tucson Amphitheater (2-2*, 2-2, 0-0), and Tucson Sabino (2-7, 1-4, 0-1).
Region pairings to date resulted in wins for Thatcher over Sabino of 3-0 (25-12, 25-6, 25-13) on Aug. 27, and for Andrada Polytechnic of 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-11) over Sabino on Sept. 10.
