Tanque Verde survived a scare Monday night when Pusch Ridge took a 2-1 lead over the Hawks in an important 3A South Region match. The Hawks battled back, however, to win the match 3-2 to keep pace with Sabino for the region title.

Tanque Verde (12-1 in power matches, 7-1 in region) is ranked No. 7 in the 3A Conference (The rankings are updated daily) and Sabino (8-4, 7-0) is ranked 13^th. Pusch Ridge (7-7, 5-4) came in ranked 20^th.

The 3A playoffs will consist of 16 teams with the first three rounds taking place at Camelback High School in Phoenix. A win against Tanque Verde would have moved the Lions into a better position for the playoffs. 

Sabino also survived a 3-2 scare against 5A opponent Marana Monday night. A loss there would not have had a bearing on the region standings but it could have dropped the Sabercats out of the top 16.

Sabino beat Tanque Verde 3-2 on Sept. 22 to give the Hawks their only loss. The rematch is scheduled for Thursday.

Tanque Verde led the first set 20-16 but Pusch Ridge closed the gap to 20-19 before the Hawks scored the last five points to win the set 25-20. Even though the Lions lost, it was easy to see this was going to be a battle for Tanque Verde.

Tanque Verde took a 21-20 lead over Pusch Ridge in the second set but the Lions closed it out for a 25-23 win to draw the match even 1-1. Tanque Verde led 20-19 in the third set but Pusch Ridge was able to close that one out also for a 25-23 win to go up 2-1.

Ainsley Malis led all hitters with 20 kills but she missed two sets due to an injury. She came back into the match in the fourth set and made her presence known with six kills to lead the Hawks to a 25-13 win to tie the match up 2-2. She scored five more in the fifth set to help provide a 15-7 win to take the match 3-2.

Malis is fighting it out with Salpointe’s Abby Russell for Southern Arizona Freshman of the Year honors.

Fellow freshman Brooklyn Moore also came up big for Tanque Verde with 12 kills and senior Rachel Green recorded nine more. Senior Becca Walton came away with 44 assists. Sophomore middle Summer McDonough led Pusch Ridge with 14 kills, sophomore Sofia Fetsis added 11 kills and junior setter Jewel McDonough finished with 27 assists.

Pusch Ridge will travel to No. 19 Empire (9-5, 4-4) Tuesday night.