No. 8 Ironwood Ridge beat No. 9 Payson 5-0 on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Division II Beach Volleyball championships where the Nighthawks will play at No. 1 Flagstaff on Wednesday.

The Longhorns finished 13-2 on the year, which is the best finish ever for the program that started out as an independent team in 2022. Former Payson (2020) and Ottawa standout Sadie Hazelo leads the team but she loses seven seniors from the starting rotation.

Ironwood Ridge (11-2) matched a program record 11 wins that was set last year when the team made it to the quarterfinal round under head coach Bill Lang.

Flagstaff (13-0) beat No. 16 Valley Christian 5-0 to set up the quarterfinal match with Ironwood Ridge. Flagstaff took second place in 2022 and 2024 and the team made it to the semifinal round last year under Beth Haglin. This will be the first full non-invitational meeting between Ironwood Ridge and Flagstaff.

Payson. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

No. 8 IRONWOOD RIDGE 5, No. 9 PAYSON 0

1: Maria Lemas, Sr./Kallie George, So. over Darla Long, Sr./Madie Plain, Jr. (21-10, 21-11)

2: Marcella Landers, Fr./Lydia Litkenhus, Sr. over Maddie Johns, Sr./Jenna Shinstock, Jr. (21-8, 21-14)

3: Genesis Othon, So./Aubrey Schultz, So. over Dannika McDaniel, So./Addie Parker, Sr. (21-18, 21-10)

4: Kendyl Shields, Jr./Lillian Merchant, Jr. over Brooklyn Snyder, Sr./Cameron Cooper, Sr. (21-18, 21-12)

5: Charlotte Marlow, So./Audrey Cross, Sr. over Amitee Hanewinkle, Sr./Abby Sias, Sr. (21-16, 21-12)