No. 3 Salpointe beat No. 14 Boulder Creek 5-0 in the first round of the Division I Beach Volleyball playoffs on Wednesday. The Lancers will host No. 11 Mesquite in the quarterfinal round next Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 4:30 p.m.
No. 3 Salpointe (10-1) and No. 6 Ironwood Ridge (10-2) are the Southern Arizona representatives to the Division I state tournament slated to begin on Wednesday, Apr. 19. Salpointe will host No. 14 Boulder Creek (6-5) at 4:30 p.m. and Ironwood Ridge will host No. 11 Mesquite (8-3) at 4 p.m.
Ironwood Ridge (10-1 overall, 8-0 in Section III), became playoff eligible for the first time in program history on Wednesday by virtue of competing in the 11th game of the year. The 5-0 win over section opponent Queen Creek (2-6, 2-5) also put in the Nighthawks in the driver’s seat for the section title.
Ironwood Ridge had a setback on Tuesday when Cienega came in and beat the Nighthawks on their own court. It was a huge win for the Bobcats but it also came five days after getting swept by Sahuaro.
The University of Arizona and Ironwood Ridge hosted the first high school “pairs” competition in Arizona. The CatBox Classic featured athletes from Xavier Prep, Salpointe, Chaparral, Ironwood Ridge, Corona del Sol and Notre Dame.