Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Peyton Devlin (15) slams the ball past Safford junior defenders Jaidyn Mortensen (6) and Mia Abalos (4). The Thatcher junior outside hitter dropped in several kills on the Bulldogs on Oct. 3. The No. 4 Eagles left Norma Bellamy Gymnasium with a 3-set region win over the No. 12 Bulldogs. Thatcher travels to No. 28 Pusch Ridge and No. 15 Safford hosts No. 40 San Miguel on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Bulldogs welcome Vipers to Norma Bellamy Gymnasium
By Raymundo Frasquillo
SAFFORD – The Robert Abalos coached Safford Bulldogs host the Tucson San Miguel Vipers on Tuesday, Oct. 11. The Vipers bring a 2-10 seeding and 0-3 region record, into Norma Bellamy Gymnasium while the Bulldogs are 8-2 and 1-2. San Miguel is ranked No. 40 and Safford No. 15. The pairing is in region play as is No. 4 Thatcher (10-2, 4-0) at No. 28 Tucson Pusch Ridge (5-6, 3-1) on the same day.
Other South Region pairings this week are Tucson Catalina at Thatcher and Pusch Ridge at Safford on Thursday, Oct. 13.
San Miguel Vipers
Two 3-sets wins, over Palo Verde Magnet (Sept. 8) and Catalina (Sept. 22), along with nine 3-set losses and a 4-set loss accompany the Vipers.
The 3-set losses have been to Douglas (13-25, 13-25, 16-25) on Aug. 30, to Rio Rico () on Sept. 1, to Willcox (13-25, 17-25, 19-25) on Sept. 7, to Palo Verde Magnet (21-25, 17-25, 19-25) on Sept. 8, to Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (14-25, 19-25, 21-25) on Sept. 14, to Coolidge (16-25, 16-25, 21-25) on Sept. 16, to Tucson’s The Gregory School (23-25, 20-25, 13-25) on Sept. 19, to Catalina (15-25, 16-25, 16-25) on Sept. 22, to Thatcher on Sept. 27, to Tanque Verde (11-25, 10-25, 5-25) on Oct. 3, and to Sabino (16-25, 16-25, 17-25) on Oct. 5. The 4-set loss was to Sabino (7-25, 14-25, 25-21, 17-25) on Sept. 6.
San Miguel has seniors Kyara Glenn, Mariana Gonzalez, Larissa Murillo, Sarah Ramirez, and Karina Rivera along with juniors Ashley Almazan, Giselle Gastelum, Estefana Gonzalez, Jolette Montano, Virgina Pardo, and Bea Perez on its roster.
The Vipers visit Pusch Ridge (Oct. 18), host Catalina (Oct. 20), visit San Tan Foothills (Oct. 22), visit Empire (Oct. 24), and host Palo Verde Magnet (Oct. 26) to close out their regular season.
Safford Bulldogs
Safford won five consecutive seeding matches before falling in four sets (19-25, 25-16, 22-25, 16-25) at Tanque Verde (Sept. 22). The streak included wins of 3-0 over Tucson Cholla (Aug. 21), 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-23) over Sahuarita (Sept. 6), 3-1 (25-13, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18) over Sabino (Sept. 8), 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-13, 15-7) over New Mexico Silver (Sept. 13), and 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-10) over Pima (Sept. 19).
Safford also has seeding wins of 3-sets over Tucson Amphitheater on Sept. 26, Catalina (25-12, 25-9, 25-22) on Sept. 27, and Flowing Wells (25-9, 25-15, 25-15) on Oct. 5.
The Bulldogs went 3-3 during the Goodyear Estrella Foothills Wolves Classic (Sept. 2-3), 3-3 during the Snowflake tourney on Sept. 16-17, and 3-3 during the 2-day Florence Invitational (Oct. 7-8).
Safford fields seniors Brianna Camarena, Jordyn Espinoza, Rene Holcomb, Emma Jarvis, Jaylenn Jurado, Paige Perea, and Jazzy Rios; juniors Mia Abalos, Jaidyn Espinoza, Marlena Gonzales, Jaidyn Mortensen; sophomores Breanna Arbizo and Marley Jurado; and freshman Hannah Schade.
The Bulldogs host Pusch Ridge (Oct. 13), visit Sabino (Oct. 18), host Empire (Oct. 20) and Blue Ridge (Oct. 22), visit Palo Verde Magnet (Oct. 24), and host Snowflake (Oct. 26).
Pusch Ridge Lions
Three 3-set wins are over Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood (25-11, 25-19, 25-18) on Sept. 10, Palo Verde Magnet on Sept. 27, and Catalina on Sept. 29 plus a 4-set win over Empire (25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23) on Oct. 3.
The losses are four in three sets to Tucson Salpointe Catholic (15-25, 15-25, 12-25) on Aug. 29, to Thatcher (11-25, 14-25, 23-25) on Sept. 12, to Chandler Valley Christian (14-25, 23-25, 19-25) on Sept. 19, and to Tanque Verde (23-25, 13-25, 22-25) on Oct. 5; in four sets to Marana (17-25, 25-19, 13-25, 23-25) on Sept. 1; and in five sets to Sabino (25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 23-25, 8-15) on Sept. 14.
Pusch Ridge went 2-9 during two tourneys, 2-4 at Goodyear Estrella Foothills (Sept. 2-3) and 0-5 at Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (Sept. 23-24).
The Lions are seniors Vienna Elliot, Molly Garnand, Camila Monreal, and Kendall Ray; juniors Amelia Gordon, Kayla Henninger, Mari Norman, and Teegan Wilfert; sophomores Selah Dean, Estelle Fetsis, and Hannah Love; and freshman Noelle Mulvanny.
Pusch Ridge visits Safford (Oct. 13), hosts San Miguel (Oct. 18), visits Gilbert Christian (Oct. 22), hosts Sabino (Oct. 26), and visits Tanque Verde (Oct. 27).
Thatcher Eagles
The Eagles are participated in 12 seeding matches and 18 tourney matches during three meets, posting 8-2 and 8-10 records, respectively.
Thatcher defeated eight opponents in three sets and two in five sets. The 3-set wins are over Sahuarita Walden Grove (25-11, 25-13, 25-16) on Aug. 31, Pusch Ridge (25-11, 25-14, 25-23) on Sept. 12, Pima (25-12, 25-10, 25-11) on Sept. 14, Tanque Verde (25-12, 25-10, 25-16) on Sept. 20, San Miguel on Sept. 27, Sabino (25-17, 25-17, 25-13) on Sept. 29, Safford (25-13, 25-18, 25-18) on Oct. 3, and Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 5.
The 5-set wins were over Snowflake (25-23, 19-25, 18-25, 26-24, 15-9) on Sept. 1 and Tucson Mica Mountain (25-20, 26-28, 15-25, 25-22, 15-9) on Sept. 7.
The Eagles also have a 5-set seeding loss to Tucson Canyon del Oro (25-9, 25-22, 22-25, 27-29, 10-15) on Sept. 6 and a 3-set loss to Chandler Valley Christian (19-25, 20-25, 20-25) on Sept. 17.
In the three 2-day meets attended, Thatcher went 1-6 at Chandler (Sept. 2-3), 3-2 at Mesa Red Mountain (Sept. 9-10), and 4-2 at Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (Sept. 30 – Oct. 1).
Thatcher’s varsity team is seniors Madden Bingham, Molly Brown, Matti Lopeman, Marley Motes, Keyera Smith, Makenzie Sweet, and Ashlyn Thompson along with juniors Avery Bingham, Macey Carter, Makenzi Ferrin, Maci Layton, and Marli Lopeman.
The Eagles host Catalina (Oct. 13), visit Empire (Oct. 18) and Tanque Verde (Oct. 20), and host Blue Ridge (Oct. 22).
3A Top 10 Rankings:
The statewide 3A rankings listed on Sept. 30 have East Region Snowflake No. 1 (9-1 seeding, 20.0310rating), South Central Region Chandler Valley Christian No. 2 (10-1, 19.7139), North Central Region PhoenixNorthwest Christian No. 3 (8-1, 17.3197), South Region Thatcher No. 4 (8-2, 16.9275), East Region Lakeside Blue Ridge No. 5 (8-1, 15.2204), West Region Buckeye Odyssey Institute No. 6 (10-1, 11.5462), South Central Region Gilbert Christian No. 7 (8-3, 11.1714), North Central Region Camp Verde No. 8 (8-2, 10.4359), NorthRegion Tuba City No. 9 (3-1, 10.2830), and East Region Winslow No. 10 (6-3, 9. 2389).
The 3A rankings on Oct. 7 had the original first five in the same order, Snowflake No. 1 (10-1 seeding, 21.4972 rating), Valley Christian No. 2 (12-1, 21.2097), Northwest Christian No. 3 (10-1, 18.8932), Thatcher No. 4 (10-2, 17.3338), and Lakeside Blue Ridge No. 5 (9-1, 17.0606).
Gilbert Christian moved up to No. 6 (10-3, 13.7053) from No. 7, Odyssey Institute dropped to No. 7 (12-1, 13.1209) from No. 6, Tuba City moved up to No. 8 (6-1, 12.8607) from No. 9, North Region Kayenta Monument Valley moved up to No. 9 (7-1, 12.1238), and North Central Region Scottsdale Christian moved up to No. 10 (7-5, 10.5005).
Camp Verde dropped to No. 11 (8-2, 10.4359) from No. 8 and Winslow dropped to No. 12 (6-3, 9. 2389)from No. 10.
3A South Region Standings:
The 9-member region standings are the Thatcher Eagles (18-12 overall, 8-2 seeding, 4-0 region) first, the Tanque Verde Hawks (14-3, 8-3, 3-0) second, the Sabino Sabercats (19-5, 10-3, 3-1) third, the Pusch Ridge Christian Lions (7-15, 5-6, 3-1) fourth, the Empire Ravens (5-12, 4-8, 2-2) fifth, the Safford Bulldogs (14-8, 8-2, 1-2) sixth, the San Miguel Catholic Vipers (2-10, 2-10, 0-3) seventh, the Catalina Trojans (1-10, 1-10, 0-4) eighth, and the Palo Verde Magnet Titans (1-16, 0-12, 0-3) ninth.
The region member state rankings as of Sept. 30 were No. 4 Thatcher (8-2 seeding, 16.9275 rating), No. 11Tanque Verde (6-3, 9.1110), No. 12 Safford (7-1, 8.8898), No. 16 Sabino (8-3, 6.0915), No. 29 Pusch Ridge (4-5, minus 0.5612), No. 32 Empire (3-7, minus 2.9669), No. 41 San Miguel (2-8, minus 10.3185), No. 43 Catalina (1-6, minus 12.5789), and No. 44 Palo Verde Magnet (0-11, minus 16.4225).
A week later, Thatcher was still No. 4 (10-2, 17.3338), Tanque Verde No. 13 (8-3, 9.1192), Safford No. 15 (8-2, 8.6416), Sabino No. 19 (10-3, 62239), Pusch Ridge No. 28 (5-6, 0.6441), Empire No. 33 (4-8, minus 3.3971), San Miguel No. 40 (2-10, minus 11.6689), Catalina still No. 43 (1-9, minus 17.2352), and Palo Verde Magnet still No. 44 (0-12, minus 17.2352).
In region matches played to date, Thatcher has 3-set wins over San Miguel on Sept. 27, Sabino (25-17, 25-17, 25-13) on Sept. 29, Safford (25-13, 25-18, 25-18) on Oct. 3, and Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 5;
Tanque Verde two 3-set wins over San Miguel (25-11, 25-10, 25-5) on Oct. 3 and Pusch Ridge (25-23, 25-13, 25-22) on Oct. 5 plus a 4-set win over Safford (25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 25-16) on Sept. 22;
Sabino three 3-set wins over Empire (26-24, 25-21, 25-20) on Sept. 27, Catalina (25-7, 25-15, 25-14) on Oct. 3, and San Miguel (25-16, 25-16, 25-17) on Oct. 5;
Pusch Ridge two 3-set wins over Palo Verde Magnet on Sept. 27 and Catalina on Sept. 29 plus a 4-set win over Empire (25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23) on Oct. 3; Empire two 3-set wins over Palo Verde Magnet on Sept. 29 and Catalina on Oct. 4; and Safford a 3-set win over Catalina (Sept. 27).
Remaining region matches include Tanque Verde at Sabino on Oct. 17; Empire at Thatcher, San Miguel at Pusch Ridge, Safford at Sabino, and Tanque Verde at Palo Verde Magnet on Oct. 18; Thatcher at Tanque Verde, Empire at Safford, Catalina at San Miguel, and Palo Verde Magnet at Sabino on Oct. 20; Tanque Verde at Catalina, Safford at Palo Verde Magnet, and San Miguel at Empire on Oct. 24; and Empire at Tanque Verde, Palo Verde Magnet at San Miguel, and Sabino at Pusch Ridge on Oct. 26
