Top-seeded Salpointe returns to the semifinal round for the seventh time in eight years after beating No. 8 Mica Mountain 3-1 Tuesday night at home. The Lancers will host No. 5 Arcadia Thursday night at 5 p.m. for a shot at the state championship match slated for Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Lancers (18-0 in ranking matches) are very familiar with championship finals, having won in 2016, 2017 and 2020 to go along with a runner-up finish in 2018. Mica Mountain (14-5), on the other hand, just ended the second full season in program history with longtime head coach Amy Johnson picking up her first playoff win at the school after beating No. 9 Eastmark in the first round. Johnson coached at Salpointe and Sabino previously and she passed the 1,000 matches coached mark exactly one month ago. She is sitting at 1,011 total matches, second only to Ironwood Ridge head coach Bill Lang (1.172). Johnson also has 745 combined wins with 398 of those on the girl’s side. Lang leads with 753 wins with 535 wins with girls.

Heather Moore-Martin leads Salpointe and she has 686 total wins between Green Fields, Catalina and Salpointe but five of those victories are from state championships and she will have to get past Arcadia to get there again. Arcadia (18-2) beat No. 4 Canyon del Oro 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23) to set up the match at Salpointe on Thursday. Canyon del Oro (15-3) was the 4A runner-up last year and Arcadia finished in the 5A quarterfinals.

Salpointe took the first set over Mica Mountain 25-19 after pulling away from a slim 14-12 lead and the second set proved much easier with a 25-13 win to go up 2-1. The Thunderbolts dominated the third set, slowly building up a 21-15 lead, but the Lancers battled back. Sophia Hernandez set Lexi Hutchens four times in a row and Frankie Pieroni pot together three aces in a row and the set eventually worked out to a 22-22 tie.

The Lancers were never able to get to set point however with a service error and a kill from Gigi Miller putting Mica Mountain back up 24-23. A service error and a kill from Kate Mobley tied it back up at 24-24 but a block from Soso Okpara put the Bolts back up 25-24. Hutchens scored again but Mica Mountain took a 26-25 lead on a side out only to have another service error tie it back up at 26-26. Mica Mountain closed the set out 28-26 to cut the lead down to 2-1. Salpointe took the third set 25-19 for the 3-1 victory.

Mica Mountain standout Kayda Lewis is the only senior on the squad and the team will be a difficult out next year with four juniors and eight sophomores returning.