Eve Pearson with a dig for CDO. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

No. 24 Canyon del Oro beat No. 14 Youngker 3-2 Friday, moving the Dorados into third place in Division I, Section V play behind Ironwood Ridge (8-1) and Salpointe (8-0). The match made the Dorados playoff eligible but the victory for Canyon del Oro (4-7) may not be enough to qualify for one of the six at-large berths available for Division I while Youngker (6-3) still needs to play two more matches to meet the 11-match minimum required for postseason play.

The top two teams from each of the seven sections in D-I will automatically move on to the state playoffs slated to start on Tuesday, April 24 and six at-large teams, based on power-ranking, will fill out the 16-team bracket.

Ironwood Ridge is 5-0 in section play and Salpointe is 4-0. The two teams will meet on Wednesday, April 11 for what could be the section title. The Lancers have two more section matches scheduled after their match with the Nighthawks.

The Roughriders were unable to field a fifth team on Friday which meant the Dorados came into their match with a 1-0 lead. The Roughriders came out and took the first two pairs to take a 2-1 lead heading into the final round.

Monique Tometich and Kaya Sturdivan lost the first set 21-12 to Katie Call and Jillian Kniffen but the pair rebounded and took the second 21-17 and the tiebreaker 15-12 to tie things up 1-1. Julie Montes and Belcher beat Allison Quiroz and Haley Bronson 21-13 and 21-15 to put the Roughriders ahead 2-1.

Kaleigh Olsen and Eve Pearson drew things even with a 21-10, 21-16 win over Lillian Meadows and Mackenzie Cumbie and Zelaya Loop and Brianna Tovar gave Canyon del Oro the 3-2 win with a 21-15, 20-22, 15-10 win over Sienna Cumbie and Joleese Meadows.

“We have a few upperclassmen and this year was mostly about getting the younger players up to speed,” Loop said. “This has been a learning experience and has been a good workout for when I’m not playing indoor.”

Loop has committed to play indoor for Yavapai.

Youngker will host Desert Edge (2-8) on Wednesday before finishing out the regular season at Salpointe on April 18 and Canyon del Oro will end with a home match against Agua Fria (4-6) next Friday, April 13.

State pairs competition begins on May 7.