Though not as controversial as the release of the “Open Division” for football, the initial AIA/MaxPreps Rankings for girls volleyball were also released to the public on Tuesday with few surprises. The volleyball rankings will be updated Tuesday through Friday each week leading up to the state playoffs so the rankings can, and will, change daily.

In the 5A Conference, for example, Ironwood Ridge entered Tuesday night ranked No. 7 with a 5-2 and record and the Nighthawks hosted No. 12 Marana in a huge 5A Southern Region match. The Tigers came in with a 7-1 record but fell to 7-2 despite taking Ironwood Ridge to five sets on the road.

Ironwood Ridge is now 10-5 overall on the year but wins and losses during invitationals do not count towards power-point records so, for the purposes of ranking within the conference, the Nighthawks improved to 6-2 on the year.

Ironwood Ridge is now 1-0 in region play but region championships do not guarantee a playoff spot in 5A or 6A competition – all playoff spots are based on rankings only in 5A and 6A. In 3A and 4A competition, the region champion is guaranteed a spot in the postseason. For the most part, the top two teams in each region for 1A to 2A will make the playoffs.

The Nighthawks were in danger of losing a region match at home for the first time since October of 2017 but the team kept their string of 12 region wins in a row intact despite the best efforts of the Tigers.

Marana built an 8-3 lead in the first set but senior outside Andrea Vigil helped fuel a 5-0 run thanks to two kills and an ace and Ironwood Ridge drew even at 8-8. The two teams would play even from there but Vigil recorded three more kills and junior outside Alyssa Feltman added an ace to start another run with the score knotted at 14-14. Senior middle Morgan Smith put up a block and the Nighthawks found themselves up 19-15. Momentum turned and Ironwood Ridge went on to win the first set 25-16.

The second set started out completely different with the Nighthawks building a 6-1 lead but the Tigers battled back to tie it up at 8-8. Marana senior outside Grace Ehler put down three kills and senior outside Ella Dotson recorded an ace and the Tigers turned the tide to build an 18-13 lead. Marana would go on to take a 23-20 lead but Feltman went up for a block and a kill to cut the lead down to 23-22 and a block pulled things even at 23-23 but Ehler came up big once again and Marana took the second set 25-23 to tie the match up 1-1.

“We showed so much heart today and I think this is might be the first time Marana has ever taken Ironwood Ridge to five sets,” Ehler said. “It was a good match and I’m hoping to be the ‘go to’ player for my team and get the ball down for my team. I want to be the leader on the court.”

Ehler came through for her team in the third set after Ironwood Rudge took an 18-13 lead. A service error by the Nighthawks was followed by three aces and a kill from Ehler and the set was suddenly tied up at 18-18. Ehler and Feltman went back forth against each other until the Nighthawks went up for a commanding 23-21 lead but a service error, an ace from Dotson and a block from senior middle Emmalee Chapman, put the Tigers up 24-23. Feltman tied the set up 24-24 but another service error helped lead to a 26-24 win for Marana.

Down 2-1, the Nighthawks found Vigil early and often and, even though she plays the outside at 5-foot-8, Vigil record seven kills and two aces to help pace Ironwood Ridge to a 25-12 win to tie the match up 2-2.

“We are trying to hold each other accountable and stay intense,” Vigil said. “When we lose control of the lead it seems like we need to refocus and I feel I need to be there for my team. I was just thinking ‘send me the ball’ because I could see the openings.”

Ironwood Ridge sprinted out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth and deciding set but Ehler and junior middle Dalia Haase battled back to cut the lead down to 8-7. Vigil and Feltman scored five kills each in the final set but another block from Chapman helped give Marana a 12-10 lead. Feltman came alive and she put down three offerings from senior setter Kianna Swingle down the stretch. An ace from Jacqueline Gomez also came in handy and the Nighthawks went back up 14-12.

It looked like Marana senior Kaylee Moseley was going to score off a block to cut the lead down to 14-13 but Vigil dove to her left to dig the ball out inches from the floor, high enough for junior Lauren Barberii to punch the ball into the net. Feltman recovered and she dove to her right and she somehow sent the ball over for the winning point. The Marana defenders were regrouping because it looked like there was no possible way for Feltman to score.

Ironwood Ridge travels to Nogales (4-5) Wednesday night before taking part in the Nike Tournament of Champions and Marana is set to visit Sunnyside (3-4) on Thursday before playing in the Chandler Prep Invitational.