Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Duncan defenders, from left, sophomore Emily Kempton (14), senior Ivanna Cano (18), and junior Aubrey Evans (12) await a teammates’ serve before adjusting to a different position. The Wildkats qualified for the state playoffs by ascending in the rankings, from No. 19 on Oct. 4 to No. 12 on Oct. 28. The top 16 teams are in the 4-round, single elimination state tourney.
Duncan absent from state meets since the 2016 season
By Raymundo Frasquillo
TEEC NOS POS – The Kassi Mortensen-coached Duncan Wildkats face the Red Mesa Redskins for a state tourney first-round pairing on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The teams met earlier this season during pool play of the Joseph City Invitational on Oct. 7. The Redskins (13-3 seeding, 5.1340 rating, 6-2 North Region for 2nd) are No. 5 of 40 1A teams and the Wildkats (11-6, minus 0.8032, 2-3 Tucson Southeast Region for 5th) No. 12.
Red Mesa has qualified for the state meet in three of the previous four seasons, as No. 3 (2021), No. 16 (2019), and No. 12 (2018), going 1-1, 0-1, and 0-1, respectively.
Duncan’s previous state meet entrance was during the 2016 season. The Class of 2023 team members was attending seventh grade. The No. 10 Wildkats bowed out in three sets to No. 7 Tucson’s The Gregory School during the first round.
Red Mesa Redskins
Red Mesa went 1-1 during the section tourney, falling in three sets to Williams (19-25, 20-25, 23-25) in the second round of the 1A Canyon versus North Region meet on Oct. 29. The Redskins first round pairing resulted in a 3-set (25-14, 25-18, 25-10) triumph over El Capitan on Oct. 27.
The Redskins have 11 3-set wins and two 5-set wins, along with two losses of three sets and one of four sets. A total of 51 seeding sets were played with a 40-11 (.784) record.
Falling to the Redskins in three sets were Fredonia (25-19, 25-14, 25-14) on Sept. 10, Grand Canyon (25-12, 25-16, 25-19) on Sept. 17, Grand Canyon (25-12, 25-18, 25-20) on Sept. 17, Seligman (25-17, 25-5, 25-7) on Sept. 30, Seligman (25-10, 25-11, 25-11) on Sept. 30, Ash Fork (25-15, 25-19, 25-13) on Oct. 1, Flagstaff Basis (25-20, 25-14, 25-19) on Oct. 6, Flagstaff Basis (25-17, 25-18, 25-18) on Oct. 6, Shonto Prep (25-4, 25-8, 25-6) on Oct. 18, Shonto Prep (25-4, 25-10, 25-5) on Oct. 18, Saint Michael (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) on Oct. 20, and Keams Canyon Hopi (25-15, 25-15, 25-12) on Oct. 25; and in five sets, Saint Michael (25-9, 25-17, 17-25, 25-27, 15-11) on Oct. 20.
The losses were twice in three sets, to Williams (13-25, 17-25, 17-25) on Sept. 15 and to Rock Point (21-25, 20-25, 20-25) on Oct. 14; and in four sets to Rock Point on Oct. 14.
Red Mesa lists seniors Abigail Begaye, Danika Chico, Shaniley Dugi, Alexa Poyer, Aubrey Redmustache, Destiny Ruiz, Amilena Yazzie; juniors Jasmine Brady, Deleni Nakai, and Lyla Tree; and sophomore Tianna Bradley on its roster. Sean Gray is the head coach.
Duncan Wildkats
Duncan fell 11-15 to Patagonia during the fifth set of a section tourney pairing on Oct. 27. It was during the Tucson Northwest versus Tucson Southeast Region meet at Tucson Desert Christian. The Wildkats won the first (25-15) and third (25-11) sets while the Lobos took the second (26-24) and fourth (25-19).
A total of 59 seeding sets were played by the Scarlet and Gray, with a record of 36-23 (.610).
The Wildkats have 3-set seeding wins over Winkelman Hayden (25-17, 25-16, 25-10) on Aug. 25, the Tucson Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind (25-3, 25-8, 25-7) on Sept. 6, San Manuel (25-15, 25-20, 25-17) on Oct. 14, Kearny Ray (25-13, 25-11, 25-11) on Oct. 19, Superior (25-17, 29-27, 25-12) on Oct. 22, and Hayden (25-16, 26-24, 25-21) on Oct. 25; two 4-set wins over Kearny Ray (15-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-14) on Aug. 31 and Valley Union (25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 26-24) on Sept. 19; and a 5-set win over San Simon (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-10) on Aug. 25 in non-region play.
The losses are in three sets to Tucson Desert Christian (20-25, 23-25, 22-25) on Sept. 13 and to Willcox (16-25, 17-25, 12-25) on Sept. 23, and in four sets to Fort Thomas (9-25, 13-25, 26-24, 17-25) on Sept. 21.
During region pairings, Duncan has a 3-set win over Sells Baboquivari (25-5, 25-11, 25-11) on Oct. 18 and a 4-set win over Valley Union (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23) on Oct. 11 along with a 3-set loss to Patagonia (18-25, 18-25, 19-25) on Sept. 29 and two 4-set losses to San Simon (17-25, 25-16, 15-25, 23-25) on Oct. 4 and to Saint David (25-22, 14-25, 16-25, 23-25) on Oct. 21.
In tourney play, the Wildkats went 6-7, 3-3 during the Morenci Invitational on Sept. 10, and 3-4 during the Joseph City Invitational (Oct. 7-8).
Duncan has seniors Ivanna Cano, Ariel Harrington, and Kaylee Kempton; juniors Karly Coats, Aubrey Evans, and Rachel Sumner; and sophomores McKenzie Babers, Elizabeth Basteen, Reymia Contreras, Emily Kempton, and Shaylyn Rhoton on its roster.
1A State Tourney
The rest of the 1A state tourney first-round upper bracket has No. 16 Kearny Ray (11-5, minus 1.7598, 4-0 Tucson Northwest Region for 1st) at No. 1 Williams (17-1, 12.4399, 10-0 Canyon Region for 1st), No. 9 Phoenix Valley Lutheran (10-5, 1.3804, 3-3 East Region for 2nd) at No. 8 Fort Thomas (12-6, 1.5204, 6-4 Copper Region for 3rd), and No. 13 Ash Fork (10-6, minus 1.0352, 7-3 Canyon Region for 2nd) at No. 4 Scottsdale Cicero Prep (15-3, 6.6471, 6-0 East Region for 1st).
Lower bracket pairings are No. 14 Colorado City El Capitan (11-4, minus 1.2195, 6-4 Canyon Region for 3rd) at No. 3 Saint David (15-1, 10.9274, 6-0 Tucson Southeast Region for 1st), No. 11 Bagdad (11-3, minus 0.7424, 4-2 West Region for 1st) at No. 6 Joseph City (12-6, 4.7715, 9-1 Copper Region for 1st), No. 10 North Phoenix Prep (13-3, 1.2417, 8-0 Central Region for 1st) at No. 7 Heber Mogollon (11-5, 4.4227, 9-1 Copper Region for 2nd), and No. 15 Tucson Desert Christian (12-5, minus 1.2768, 3-1 Tucson Northwest Region for 2nd) at No. 2 Rock Point (16-1, 11.5725, 8-0 North Region for 1st).
The quarterfinals and semifinals are at Scottsdale Coronado on Friday, Nov. 4. The championship match is at the same site on Saturday, Nov. 5.
1A Tucson Southeast Region Final Standings:
The 7-member region final standings were the Saint David Tigers (26-5 overall, 15-1 seeding, 6-0 region) first, the Patagonia Lobos (7-9, 7-9, 4-2) second, the San Simon Longhorns (8-7, 8-7, 4-2) third, the Elfrida Valley Union Blue Devils (9-7, 9-7, 3-3) fourth, the Duncan Wildkats (14-13, 11-6, 2-3) fifth, the Sells Baboquivari Warriors (1-8, 1-8, 1-5) sixth, the Nogales Lourdes Catholic Warriors (2-7, 2-7, 0-5) seventh.
Final state rankings for region members were No. 3 Saint David (15-1 seeding, 10.9274 rating), No. 12 Duncan (11-6, minus 1.8032), No. 18 Valley Union (9-7, minus 2.2103), No. 19 San Simon (8-7, minus 2.2579), No. 26 Patagonia (7-9, minus 5.7424), and both Baboquivari (1-8, unrated) and Lourdes (2-7, unrated) were unranked.
