Patagonia High and St. David are two of the premier Class 1A volleyball teams in southern Arizona. But they are no match for Mother Nature and Leaky Gym.
With rain in the forecast for Wednesday and no guarantees that the roof on Patagonia’s gymnasium can withstand the precipitation, the decision was made to postpone the highly anticipated 1A South match and reschedule it for Oct. 19.
The Lobos will now be off until their Sept. 23 road match at Fort Thomas, which knocked Patagonia out of the state tournament last year.
The Lobos are coming off a 1-3 record at the Epic Tourneys Small School Invite in Scottsdale on Saturday. They played four matches over a span of six hours, losing their first three before finishing the tournament with a victory over Tempe Prep. All four of the matches were against Class 2A schools, which was by design.
“I told the tournament director we wanted to play tougher teams, we don’t want to play 1A competition,” coach Brenda Somoza said. “It’s good for the girls to see that kind of competition, because that’s what we can expect these next couple of games.
“Sometimes it’s not about winning. It’s about learning what you have to work on get better.”
In that regard, it was mission accomplished. Somoza said the Lobos realistically had a shot at going 2-2 in the tournament, but “the other two teams, even on our best days, I don’t think we would have beat them.”
Somoza wasn’t looking for excuses, but an early morning wakeup call and three-hour bus trip to Phoenix prior to their first match at 10 a.m. didn’t exactly play to the Lobos’ strengths. “We’re not just morning people,” she said. “We should have played better than we did.”
Freshman Thais Snell goes up for the kill against Duncan. (Photo by Dave Lumia) 
Sophomore Charlotte Myers goes up for a shot. (Photo by Dave Lumia) 
Senior Amaya Somoza tips the ball over the net. (Photo by Dave Lumia) 
The Lobos celebrate a point in the third set. (Photo by Dave Lumia) 
Monique Snell chats with Duncan players following Patagonia’s victory. (Photo by Dave Lumia)
The Lobos have now competed in two tournaments, going 5-3, but those matches don’t count toward state rankings. Their official record is 5-0, with the fifth victory coming by a score of 25-15, 25-19, 25-15 over Duncan last Thursday.
After the Duncan victory, Somoza also pointed out areas for the Lobos to up their game.
“We’ve got to find other ways to score,” she said. “We can’t just rely on Monique (Snell). So we tried to run some different plays, and yeah, we’ve just got to keep working at it.”
Inconsistent serving has been another sore spot, but Somoza complimented her team on its receptiveness to coaching and the desire to improve.
“I upload all our games to YouTube and I tell them, you need to watch it and tell me some things you did wrong and some things you did good,” she said. “And I think that’s really helped them. It’ll translate better if you see yourself doing it.”
Somoza said the Lobos were looking forward to playing St. David, the four-time defending region champions who are 26-0 in region matches over the last four seasons. Patagonia hasn’t defeated St. David since 2015, although the Lobos nearly ended that losing streak last year – winning two of the first three sets but losing the final two.
Instead, they’ll have a week to prepare for a road match with Fort Thomas, another tough opponent. Patagonia defeated Fort Thomas earlier this year at the Cochise Classic.