Fall Sports Recap: Debuts and State Tournaments Galore

‘Twas a highly successful season for our fall sports teams. Two new teams debuted, cross country and swim both qualified for state, and the girls volleyball team went undefeated and was the #7 seed in the state tournament. Let’s take a more in-depth look at each sport individually.

Team Sports

Badminton

While ACP’s badminton team was not an official AIA team, they played three matches this season, including a competitive match against the Division 1 State Champion, Perry Pumas. The squad gained valuable experience this year, which should transfer well to their first full season in fall of 2018.

Football

Conference Record: 2-7

Have you heard that ACP has a football team now? No? It wasn’t talked about very much. The football team struggled early on but showed great improvement throughout the season. They netted their first win with a shutout of Scottsdale Prep on September 15 and closed the season with a close 26-25 victory over San Carlos. Kellan Gibson and Eric DeCoster netted a combined 13.5 sacks on the season, while Jordan Diaz led the team in interceptions with three.

Volleyball

Non-Tournament Record: 15-0

The girls volleyball team had the second undefeated season in ACP high schools athletics history but fell in the first round of the state tournament to Tempe Prep. Five girls were named to the 2A Metro South All-Region teams:

• Lucy Hoffman: All-Region First Team, Region Offensive Player of the Year, Region Player of the Year
• Krista Rowan: All-Region First Team, Metro South Hitting Percentage Leader
• Daria Sukhareva: All-Region First Team, Region Defensive Player of the Year, Top 5 in Digs for Metro South
• Julia Golichowski: All-Region First Team, #2 in Assists for Metro South
• Tendall Weigand: All-Region Second Team, #2 in Hitting Percentage for Metro South

Coach Orr was also named the Metro South Coach of the Year.

Individual Sports

Cross Country

Both the girls and boys cross country teams qualified for state, putting them in the top half of Division IV teams. The girls and boys both finished 16th in the state. Evie Jimenez was the top runner for the ladies, with a time of 22:59, while Connor Dosmann led the guys with a time of 18:29.

Swim

Several boys qualified for the swim state meet, and Tiana Lam went for the girls. The boys finished #5 in the state, while Tiana was able to push the girls team to 24th out of 31 all by herself.

• A second place finish the in the 200 yard freestyle relay for Ryan Redmond, Connor Nail, Austin Foreman, and Michael Phu.
• A fourth place finish for the 200 yard medley team of Connor Nail, Sean Phu, Ryan Redmond, and Michael Phu.
• Two top-8 individual finishes for Austin Foreman.
• A 7th place finish for Tiana Lam in the 50 yard freestyle, and a 9th place finish in the 100 yard free.