Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge controls their own destiny after they defeated section and district rival Oro Valley Canyon del Oro 3-1 (15-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-23) late Thursday night.

With a perfect 4-0 record in Section III, the Nighthawks will still have a few roadblocks including Tucson (9-1 in division, 3-1 in section) and Tucson Salpointe (4-5, 2-1).  

The top three teams in each of the six sections earn an automatic bid to the state playoffs and a section championship is always nice but it might also get you a top eight seed and a first-round bye for the playoffs beginning on May 7.

The Dorados (6-4, 2-1) are still in the hunt for a playoff spot thanks to a huge sectional win over Salpointe 10 days ago. Leading the charge for Canyon del Oro is junior hitter Nick Call.

Call took a year off from club ball and started the season a bit slow but is now in full swing with a powerful shot and a presence all over the court. His 21 kills led both squads and he made a statement in the first set as the Dorados ran out to a 25-15 win with seemingly no resistance.

"I came into the year a little rusty but the rust is coming off," said Call. "I have always liked hitting and I feel we played a great game tonight."

Call's father is former Salpointe coach Ryan Call. Ryan Call earned Coach of the Year honors in 1996 but that is not be the only reason why he should be remembered in volleyball circles.

Call attended Canyon del Oro at a time when boy's were not allowed to play volleyball as a varsity sport. Call, along with a few of his high school classmates like former Arizona State basketball standout Mike Redhair, attempted to tryout for the girl's team in order to get recognition of boy's volleyball.

Denied a tryout by the school, the players sued to create equity for boy's volleyball.

As destiny would have it, Call played club volleyball for Doug Clark. Clark was a co-owner of the highly successful Tucson Sky professional team but he also started the first club volleyball team for boys in Arizona and Call was on that team from the age of 13.

Clark took the case to court in 1982 with his son, Greg, being part of the litigation. The court ruled against the boys because of the history of girl's suffering past discrimination.

"Judge (Richard M.) Bilby ruled against us to preserve girl's volleyball," said Clark. "But he also said the clock was running and the AIA would have to eventually provide for boy's competition."

Clark is literally the grandfather of boy's volleyball in the state of Arizona and he is also the grandfather of Ironwood Ridge quarterback and volleyball standout Dylan Key.

Was it by pure chance that Key would one day windup playing opposite Nick Call or was it part of the mystery of destiny?

"We sued again three years later to see if the clock had run out and we won," added Clark.  Part of that second group of Canyon del Oro athletes was none other than Ironwood Ridge head coach Bill Lang.

Full circle.

Mitchell Lopez led Ironwood Ridge with 17 kills and he helped to tie things up with a 25-14 win in the second set. The Nighthawks had total control of the third set and led 16-9 but Call recorded five kills to fuel an 8-1 run to tie the set up 17-17.

The score went back and forth from there until Ironwood Ridge pulled away fro the 25-22 win. The fourth and final set pretty much followed suit.

Down 17-10, Canyon del Oro stormed back with Call and Noah Soto grinding away to cut the lead down to 22-21 but the Nighthawks pulled out the 25-23 win.

"This team is sort of like the Bad News Bears," Lang explained. "They are playing under a different set of rules or philosophy than what we are used to."

"We are used to serving aggressively and attacking the block but it seems like they are satisfied with just getting the ball over and keeping it in play. But I like how they fight and how they grinded out this win," he added.

Lang is uncertain if this will be his last year coaching the boys at Ironwood Ridge but he is leaning that way due to increased teaching duties and the age of his own children.

At any rate, Lang is an important part of boy's volleyball history in Arizona and sitting in the stands at every match is the main reason why we play boy's volleyball in this state - Doug Clark.

Clark met with Nick Call after the match in a poignant reunion of sorts.

"I have big shoes to fill," Call said about his father. "He seems to know everything there is about volleyball and I have no problem admitting that."