Ironwood Ridge freshman Marcella Landers and sophomore Kallie George took out No. 2 Brynn Hagerman and Harleigh Moseng of Flagstaff (17-21, 26-24, 15-3) in the semifinal round held at Casteel High School in Queen Creek to advance to the championship round where the duo took No. 1 Lillie Duitsman and Alex Heyn of Gilbert Christian to the wire in a (21-13, 18-21, 15-13) loss to earn a remarkable runner-up finish in the Division II ranks.
“They did a good job working through the first set. Served really well in the second set to get them out of rhythm a little, got a couple blocks, and won some hustle points to put it to the third,” Ironwood Ridge head coach Bill Lang said.
Duitsman is headed to GCU and Heyn will be playing for USC but that was pretty much business as usual for Landers and George, who knew both players due to club competition, so they had a sense of what they had to do. “Trust your partner and play it point by point,” George said. “We had to be aggressive with our serves and try to play above the net because of how big they were.”
The deciding third set was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions with Landers and George taking a 10-8 lead only to see that lead give way to a 12-10 deficit.
“Third set, we did a good job of finishing some open space with our shots when they switched their defensive scheme,” Lang added. “Up 10-8, we broke down a little trying to side out and let them score five points. Tied it up at 13-13 and they had a tough serve. Could have gone either way at that point.”
THURSDAY, MAY 7
D-I/D-II TRACK AND FIELD
5A BASEBALL ROUND THREE
No. 1 Canyon del Oro 1, No. 5 Canyon View 0
No. 11 Horizon 18, No. 2 Catalina Foothills 8 (6)
5A BASEBALL ROUND TWO ELIMINATION
No. 2 Notre Dame 4, No. 7 Nogales 0
SOFTBALL ROUND TWO ELIMINATION
6A: No. 7 Highland 4, No. 6 Marana 2
6A: No. 5 Basha 4, No. 9 Sunnyside 2
5A: No. 13 Canyon View 18, No. 7 Cienega 5
4A: No. 10 Coconino 14, No. 3 Sahuarita 4
2A SOFTBALL SEMIFINAL
No. 5 Willcox 8, No. 1 Heritage Academy 4
D-II BEACH VOLLEYBALL PAIRS SEMIFINAL
No. 6 Kallie George/Marcella Landers, Ironwood Ridge over No. 2 Hagerman/Moseng, Flagstaff (17-21, 26-24, 15-3)
D-II BEACH VOLLEYBALL PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 1 Duitsman/Heyn, Gilbert Christian over No. 6 Kallie George/Marcella Landers, Ironwood Ridge (21-13, 18-21, 15-13).
FRIDAY, MAY 8
GIRLS TEAM TENNIS SEMIFINALS AT PASEO
D-II: No. 2 Salpointe vs No. 3 Canyon del Oro, 10 a.m.
D-II: No. 9 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 4 Horizon, 9 a.m.
D-III: No. 2 Pusch Ridge vs. No. 6 Cicero Prep, 2 p.m.
BOYS TEAM TENNIS SEMIFINALS AT PASEO
D-II: No. 2 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 3 Eastmark, noon
D-III: No. 1 Pusch Ridge vs. No. 5 Gregory School, 3 p.m.
2A BASEBALL FIRST ROUND AT GOODYEAR COMPLEX
No. 11 Phoenix Country Day vs. No. 6 Bisbee, noon
No. 10 Santa Cruz vs. No. 7 Benson, noon
No. 13 Willcox vs. No. 4 Phoenix Christian, noon
SOFTBALL SEMIFINALS
3A: No. 3 Empire vs. No. 7 Tanque Verde, 4 p.m. (Flowing Wells)
1A: No. 4 St. David vs. No. 1 Superior, 4 p.m. (Papago)
BOYS VOLLEYBALL FIRST ROUND
5A: No. 15 Maricopa at No. 2 Cienega, 6 p.m.
5A: No. 13 Canyon View at No. 4 Mountain View, 6 p.m.
5A: No. 9 Catalina Foothills at No. 8 Centennial, 6 p.m.
4A: No. 13 Mesquite at No. 4 Salpointe, 6 p.m.
4A: No. 9 Mica Mountain at No. 8 Paradise Honors, 6 p.m.
D-III/D-IV TRACK AND FIELD AT SHADOW MOUNTAIN
D-V TRACK AND FIELD AT RED MOUNTAIN
SATURDAY, MAY 9
4A BASEBALL ROUND THREE ELIMINATION
No. 3 ALA-Gilbert North at No. 2 Salpointe, 11 a.m.
BASEBALL QUARTERFINALS
3A: No. 7 Tanque Verde at No. 2 Yuma Catholic. 2 p.m.
1A: No.7 St. David at No. 2 Mogollon, 4 p.m.
SOFTBALL ROUND THREE
5A: No. 3 Chaparral at No. 2 Mountain View, 11 a.m.
5A: No. 9 Willow Canyon at No. 4 Canyon del Oro, 11 a.m.
4A: No. 4 Paradise Honors at No. 1 Salpointe, 11 a.m.
4A: No. 6 Cactus Shadows at No. 2 Mica Mountain, 11 a.m.
D-I/D-II/D-V TRACK AND FIELD AT RED MOUNTAIN
D-III/D-IV TRACK AND FIELD AT SHADOW MOUNTAIN
MONDAY, MAY 11
GOLF ROUND ONE AT AGUILA
5A BASEBALL ROUND THREE ELIMINATION TEMPE DIABLO
No. 2 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 3 Notre Dame, 4 p.m.
2A SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AT GCU
No. 5 Willcox vs. No. 2 Mohave Accelerated, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY, MAY 12
GOLF ROUND TWO AT AGUILA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
5A BASEBALL SEMIFINAL AT HOHOKAM
No. 1 Canyon del Oro vs. TBD
4A BASEBALL SEMIFINAL AT TEMPE DIABLO
No. 9 Ironwood Ridge vs. TBD
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