Wildcats bound for Duncan on Tuesday

By Raymundo Frasquillo

MORENCI – The regular season finale for No. 20 Morenci (9-6 seeding, 4.3289 rating) is on Tuesday, Oct. 28. The Jasmine Aguinaga-coached Wildcats visit Greenlee County neighbor Duncan.

This week (Oct. 28 – Nov. 2) for South Region members, No. 9 Willcox (15-2 seeding, 11.0113 rating) hosts No. 50 Tucson Santa Rita (2-14, minus 17.6178), No. 18 Tucson Desert Christian (12-3, 6.0610) hosts No. 43 Bisbee (2-14, minus 11.9763), No. 26 Benson (7-8, minus 0.1260) hosts No. 53 San Miguel (1-15, minus 23.4967), and No. 23 Tombstone (11-5, 2.9757) visits No. 29 Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (9-7, minus 1.7511) on Oct. 28; and Benson hosts 1A No. 16 Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-4, minus 0.1545) and Tombstone hosts 4A No. 32 Walden Grove (6-9, minus 3.0331) on Thursday Oct. 30.

Pairings for East Region members this week include No. 13 Chandler Prep (8-6, 8.8177) visits No. 25 Gilbert Classical (10-5, 1.5216), No. 14 Gilbert San Tan Charter (11-3, 7.7089) hosts No. 37 Chandler Lincoln Prep (5-11, minus 7.1592), No. 41 Gilbert Leading Edge (4-8, minus 10.4366) visits No. 46 Gilbert Arete Prep (2-14, minus 12.7571), and No. 47 San Carlos (1-15, minus 15.1520) hosts No. 52 Miami (0-15, minus 22.4460) on Oct. 28; and Chandler Prep hosts Lincoln Prep, San Tan Charter hosts No. 20 Pima (9-4, 4.3289), Gilbert Classical visits Leading Edge, and Arete Prep hosts Miami on Oct. 30.

The Greenlee neighbors last met on a volleyball court during the 2023 Morenci Invitational (Sept. 9), with the Wildcats posting a 2-0 (25-12, 25-21) pool win and a 3-1 (20-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-23) bracket semifinal win.

Another five-tourney pairing occurred, thrice during the Morenci tourney with a 2-0 (25-21, 25-24) win on Sept. 10, 2022, and losses of 1-2 (25-21, 17-25, 11-15) and 0-2 (13-25, 20-25) in 2015 (Sept. 5) along with a split during two Chandler Prep tourneys, a 2-0 win on Oct. 4, 2019, and a 0-2 (16-25, 9-18) loss on Oct. 3, 2015.

Morenci’s tourney was held consecutively from 2002-19 but was shelved during 2020 and 2021 because of the ongoing global health crisis. It was reinstated in 2022 and last held in 2023.

It is nine seasons since Duncan and Morenci met during the regular season. Duncan posted a pair of 4-set wins in 2015, 3-1 (27-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-23) on Sept. 1 and 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 15-19) on Oct. 10 under Sandy French (2012-21). Morenci’s previous regular season wins were a year earlier in 2014, two 3-1 wins under Rebecca Manuz (2013-15).

The match starts at 5 p.m.

2A South Region

Region member standings through Oct. 19 are Willcox (15-2 seeding, 7-0 region), Morenci (9-6, 6-2), Tucson Desert Christian (12-3, 5-2), Benson (7-8, 4-3), Tombstone (11-5, 4-3), Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (9-7, 3-4), Bisbee (2-14, 2-5), Tucson Santa Rita (2-14, 1-6), Tucson San Miguel Catholic (1-15, 0-7).

2A East Region

Region member standings following eight weeks of competition are Chandler Prep (8-6 seeding, 6-0 region), Pima (9-4, 6-1), Gilbert San Tan Charter (11-3, 5-1), Gilbert Classical (10-5, 4-2), Chandler Lincoln Prep (5-11, 4-2), Gilbert Leading Edge (4-8, 1-5), Gilbert Arete Prep (2-14, 1-5), San Carlos (1-15, 1-6), and Miami (0-15, 0-6).

No. 9 Willcox Cowgirls (15-2, 11.0113)

Willcox (9-2 seeding, 3-0 2A South Region) is 45-11 in seeding sets. The Cowgirls have seeding match wins of 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 26-24) over Benson (Aug. 29), 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-14) over San Carlos (Sept. 5), 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-20) over Pima (Sept. 10), 3-2 (25-15, 21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-5) over Tombstone (Sept. 12), 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-19) over Morenci (Sept. 19), 3-0 over Saint Augustine (Sept. 26), 3-1 (25-10, 21-25, 25-16, 25-14) over Round Valley (Sept. 27), 3-1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-18) over Benson (Sept. 30), 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-8) over San Miguel (Oct. 2), 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-8) over Duncan (Oct. 7), 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-17) over Morenci (Oct. 8), 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-12) over Miami (Oct. 10), 3-1 (15-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16) over Tombstone (Oct. 15), 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-17) over Bisbee (Oct. 17), and 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-15) Desert Christian (Oct. 23).

The losses are 0-3 (22-25 thrice) to Sahuarita (Aug. 28) and 0-3 (21-25, 14-25, 8-25) to Saint David (Sept. 17).

No. 20 Pima Roughriders (9-4, 4.3289)

Pima (8-4, 4-1) is 25-13 in seeding sets played. The Roughriders have seeding match wins of 3-0 (11-25, 19-25, 20-25) over Duncan (Aug. 28), 3-0 over Benson (Sept. 3), 3-1 over Fort Thomas (Sept. 11), 2-0 (25-14, 25-14) over Globe (Sept. 13), 3-0 over Arete Prep (Sept. 24), 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-11) over Leading Edge (Sept. 25), 3-0 over Gilbert Classical (Oct. 11), and 3-0 (1-25, 3-25, 8-25) over Miami (Oct. 17).

The losses are 2-3 (21-25, 25-23, 25-16, 17-25, 9-15) loss to Morenci (Sept. 5), 0-3 (19-25, 12-25, 20-25) to Willcox (Sept. Sept. 10), 0-3 (15-25, 13-25, 10-25), and 0-3 (23-25, 15-25, 13-25) to Saint David (Oct. 1).

No. 22 Morenci Wildcats (9-6, 3.5718)

Morenci (7-6, 4-2) is 23-17 in seeding sets. The Wildcats have seeding match wins of 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 16-25, 25-17, 15-12) over Pima (Sept. 5), 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-6) over Miami (Sept. 9), 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-12) over San Carlos (Sept. 11), 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-12) over Saint Augustine (Oct. 2), 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-20) over Santa Rita (Oct. 10), 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-12) over Bisbee (Oct, 15), and 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-11) over Desert Christian (Oct. 16).

The losses are 1-3 (23-25, 23-25, 27-25, 23-25) to Round Valley (Aug. 29), 0-3 (12-25, 9-25, 14-25) to New Mexico Silver (Sept. 17), 0-3 (18-25, 16-25, 19-25) to Willcox (Sept. 19), 1-3 to Tombstone (25-19, 14-25, 15-25, 10-25), 0-3 to Silver (Oct. 1), and 0-3 (15-25, 19-25, 12-25) to Willcox (Oct. 8).

No. 47 San Carlos Braves (1-15, minus 15.1520)

San Carlos (0-15, 0-5) is 3-45 in seeding sets played. The Braves have seeding match losses of 0-3 (24-26, 10-25, 13-25) to Whiteriver Alchesay (Aug. 29), 0-3 (19-25, 21-25, 15- 25) to Fort Thomas (Sept. 3), 0-3 (12-25, 21-25, 14-25) to Willcox (Sept. 5), 0-3 (11-25, 15-25, 12-25) to Morenci (Sept. 11), 1-3 (25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-27) to Globe (Sept. 12), 0-3 to Sanders Valley (Sept. 14), 0-3 to Arete Prep (Sept. 19), 0-3 (13-25, 13-25, 12-25) to San Tan Charter (Sept. 24), 0-3 to Saint Michael (Oct. 3), 0-3 to Saint Michael (Oct. 3), 0-3 (15-25, 19-25, 17-25) to Duncan (Oct. 8), 2-3 to Eloy Santa Cruz (Oct. 10), 0-3 to Gilbert Classical (Oct. 14), 0-3 to Chandler Prep (Oct. 15), and 0-3 (11-25, 24-26, 20-25) to Lincoln Prep (Oct. 17).