3A North volleyball tournament starts today, Top seed MV gets first-round bye

WINDOW ROCK

The 3A North volleyball tournament gets underway today, with the Tuba City Lady Warriors hosting the seven-team tournament.

Top seed Monument Valley has a first-round bye awaiting the winner between No. 4 seed Page and No. 5 Tuba City as that game gets underway at 4:30 p.m.

The bottom half of the bracket has No. 3 Chinle facing No. 6 Ganado at 6 p.m., and in today’s finale, No. 2 Window Rock meets No. 7 Alchesay at 7:30 p.m.

The semifinals are set for Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., with the championship game scheduled at 5 p.m.

“With it being postseason, we need to be playing at our best,” MV coach Rennell Gilmore said. “We want to make sure we’re still progressing because our job is not over.”

The Mustangs ran the tables during the regular season in the 3A North, finishing with a perfect 12-0 record ahead of Window Rock (9-3), Chinle (8-4), Page (7-5), Tuba City (4-8), Ganado (1-11) and Alchesay (1-11).

Gilmore said the region tournament crown is up for grabs even though her team is the favorites.

“Page and Tuba City played really well against us,” Gilmore said. “You know, Chinle and Window Rock are strong teams. Like I tell my girls, we got to make sure we’re ready for anything. You just never know. It could be anybody’s game regardless of the wins and losses.”

Chinle coach Francine McCurtain agreed. She expects some of the game to go beyond three sets.

“It’s going to be a battle,” she said. “I feel like Page, Window Rock, Tuba City, and Monument Valley are going to be contenders. We have to go out there and compete with these teams, and it’s gonna be fun.”

McCurtain hopes her team can bounce back after experiencing a hiccup, losing three of five games to close the regular season.

“We were sitting No. 2 in the region, and for the last two weeks, we’ve come out shaky,” she said. “We ended up losing a couple of games, and we lost to Window Rock twice.

“I feel like we weren’t competing at the level that we can play,” she added.

On Saturday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association will release the playoffs for all divisions, with the top eight teams in the 3A division earning a spot in the 16-team state tournament.

Teams ranked No. 9 through 24 will have a Play-In game on Tuesday to make the final 16-team bracket.

As of Thursday’s AIA statewide polls, Monument Valley has the area’s highest ranking at No. 3. Window Rock comes in at No. 9 while Chinle is at No. 11, Page at 16, and Tuba City at No. 21.

“I like where we’re at,” Gilmore said while adding that she’s hoping to make a deep run in the playoffs.

“We want to move a little bit further than what we’ve done in the past few years,” she said.

Based on its rankings, Chinle and Window will have an opportunity to host that Play-In game on Tuesday.

“The girls are excited,” McCurtain said. “They’ve already made an impact by making the state tournament because last year we didn’t make the field. I just want them to go out there and play loose.”

---