D-V volleyball: Pinon nabs 1st state title -- any sport

November 7, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Pinon's Raquel Archie probably has never had a bad game. It looked impossible for that to happen. And in the title game of the Division V match with Tonopah Valley, Archie was as good as ever.

The senior middle started on fire in sets one and three and was ever-present in the deciding fifth set Saturday night as Pinon collected the first state title in school history with a 26-24, 18-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-7 victory over Tonopah Valley at Prescott Valley Event Center.

Archie finished her final match with 25 kills and eight blocks unofficially. Seventeen of her kills came in the sets Pinon prevailled in.

"Our coach told us to go out and make plays," Archie said about the chat before the final set.

Pinon never trailed in the decsive set, surging to a 9-2 lead with Archie collecting a kill and block and junior setter Shonell Ben adding an ace. Tonopah did not play well in the last set making six errors of various types to fuel Pinon's getaway.

The match ended with sophomore Tatianna Blie slicing an attack softly to send the Pinon bench into celebration along with a hefty crowd behind it in the stands.

PInon (21-1) got to the final knocking off No. 4 St. David, 25-9, 22-25, 25-16, 28-26. in the semifinals Saturday morning. Tonopah Valley (22-3), which was also gunning for its first state title,  reached the final with a win over No. 2 seed St. Michael in the semis by scores of 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-10.