23 teams will be taking part in the Marana Mountain View Lions Den Invitational this Friday and Saturday.  The teams participating include returning Division IV state champion Thatcher and 2013 Division V state champion St. David.

The Division II top-ranked Salpointe Lancers (11-0, 1-0 in section) are also competing along with No. 4 Sahuaro (9-1, 0-0) and No. 11 Tucson (8-3, 1-1).

Pima (9-0) is the top-ranked team in D-IV and the Roughriders will also be in the mix.

Catalina Foothills (7-3, 1-0) was added a few days ago. The Falcons will be hosting the Lady Falcon Volleyball Invitational next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 16-17).

The Falcons hosted Mountain View (6-6, 0-2) on Thursday night in an important section match with about three weeks left in the regular season.

Catalina Foothills won 3-0 (32-30, 25-9, 25-20) to keep pace with Salpointe in D-II Section V.

The first set turned out to be a marathon battle with both teams giving up big leads and failing to cash in on eight set points.

Mountain View gave up a 6-1 lead and then Catalina Foothills returned the favor after building a 16-10 lead only to see Mountain View take control at 21-18. But the Falcons once again charged  forward to take a 24-22 lead.

Catalina Foothills gave that lead up but Mountain View was unable to put the Falcons away after building leads of 25-24 and 26-25. Catalina Foothills had five set points the rest of the way until junior outside Anita Eichenour put down two final kills to give her team the 32-30 win.

Eichenour won the Division II state high jump last year (5-2) in her first year competing in track and field. Her personal best is 5-6 and her sudden success in track will cause some difficulty choosing a sport for college but her main concern at the moment is on the volleyball court.

"To be honest, everything was a bit rocky because we have a new coach," Eichenour said. "But we do what we need to do and we are a strong team."

Nic Thiltges is in his first year at Catalina Foothills after moving over from Rincon/University. The Falcons finished 30-8 last year but seven seniors graduated including Delaney Dunagan (University of Arizona) and Brit Beyer (Concordia).

"Personally, I need to work on a few things," Eichenour added. "But I think we will do well this year."

Catalina Foothills won the second set with ease (25-9) but the third set was a battle with Mountain View giving up an 18-15 lead with the Falcons going on a 10-2 run to close the set and the match out.

Krista Robinson has had to shift some players around due to injuries but she also has some top talent in senior libero Mattea Reeb, senior Cheyenne Pitts, her daughter and setter Trasea Brown and junior Jazzmyn Hughes. Hughes played the match after having her wisdom teeth pulled.

 

MVHS Lions Den Invitational Schedule

 

Pool Play: Friday, Oct. 9

 

Pool A, Court A

1. Cienega

2. Buena

3. St. David

4. Catalina Foothills

5. Santa Cruz

 

8:00     1v4

9:00     3v5

10:00   2v3

11:00   1v5

12:00   3v4

1:00     2v5

2:00     1v3

3:00     4v5

4:00     1v2

5:00     2v4

 

Pool B, Court B

1. Tucson High

2. Pima

3. Kofa

4. Flowing Wells

5. Gilbert Classical

 

9:00     1v5

10:00   2v3

11:00   3v5

12:00   2v5

1:00     1v3

2:00     1v2

3:00     4v5

4:00     1v4

5:00     2v4

6:00     3v4

 

Pool C, Court C

1. Thatcher

2. Mountain View

3. Cesar Chavez

4. Rio Rico

5. Immaculate Heart

 

8:00      2v5

9:00      2v4

10:00    1v5

11:00    3v4

12:00    1v3

1:00      4v5

2:00      2v3

3:00      3v5

4:00      1v2

5:00      1v4

 

Pool D, Court D

1. Sahuaro

2. Pueblo

3. Benson

4. Nogales

 

9:00      1v2

10:00    3v4

11:00    1v4

12:00    2v3

1:00      2v4

2:00     1v3

3:00     2v E3

4:00     1v E4

 

Pool E, Court E

1. Salpointe

2. Sahuarita

3. Sunnyside

4. Cholla

 

9:00       1v3

10:00     2v4

11:00     1v4

12:00     2v3

1:00       1v2

2:00       3v4

3:00       2v D3

4:00       1v D4