No. 4 Mica Mountain beat No. 13 Sahuarita 3-0 at home Thursday night in first round action of the 4A state playoffs to advance to the quarterfinal round on Monday, Nov. 6 where the Thunderbolts will host No. 5 AZ College Prep. The Knights beat No. 12 Canyon del Oro 3-0 to set up the quarterfinal at Mica Mountain.

Mica Mountain (17-1 in ranking matches) was led by the play of setter Addison Andrews (28 assists) and front row standout Aubrey Necas (14 kills) and Soso Okpara (10 kills) and Sahuarita middle blocker Addison Gilvin used her height advantage (6-foot-2) at the net to collect five blocks to go with nine kills but it the Thunderbolts had too many options to overcome.

Mica Mountain led 12-11 in the first set but the team played out to a 25-17 to go up 1-0 and then the Thunderbolts took the second set 25-18, with the third set falling their way 25-13. AZ College Prep lost a match to ALA-Gilbert North and another to ALA-Queen Creek to end the regular season before beating Canyon del Oro Thursday night. No. 11 ALA-Queen Creek was swept at No. 6 Salpointe in the first round but ALA-Gilbert North is the top-ranked team in the 4A playoffs and the Eagles could go on to host a semifinal match due to the high ranking.

Sahuarita standout Addison Gilvin. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)