Regular-season dominance hasn’t been enough for the Thatcher volleyball team this year.

In addition to a 9-1 record (7-0 in conference), the Eagles have won all three tournaments they have entered.

The third tourney win came Saturday at the Pima Invitational. The other tourney titles included the Thatcher Invitational on Aug. 30 and the Estrella Foothills Tournament on Sept. 20.

Thatcher sophomore Rachel Orr sets the ball for a teammate at the Pima Invitational. Photo by Brian Wright

Thatcher grabbed the Pima Invitational championship with a 2-0 win over Snowflake in the finals.

Of course, the Eagles weren’t going to win the tournament without going through Safford first.

Thatcher and Safford hooked up for the third time this season in the semifinals.

The Eagles defeated Safford for the second consecutive time in tournament play. Thatcher beat Safford 2-1 at Estrella Foothills, and won 2-0 on Saturday. A well-rounded effort from Thatcher led to a 15-10, 15-10 victory.

“The girls got mentally up and prepared for Safford,” Eagles head coach Krista Brown said. “It was still really difficult.”

Safford still had a chance to reach the finals if it could defeat Snowflake in the finals of the loser’s bracket. The Lobos, however, held off the Bulldogs 2-1 to advance to the final.

Brown said her players let down slightly in the first set against Snowflake because they expected to play Safford — a tougher team.

The main difference between Safford and Snowflake is the superior defensive play of Safford’s back row, according to Brown.

Thatcher wasn’t 100-percent focused in the first set against Snowflake and had to battle back from 12-7 and 21-16 deficits. Snowflake was up 23-22, but Thatcher won the last three points to win the set.

Improved focus and energy for the Eagles led to a 25-10 win for Thatcher in the second set. Brown also thought Snowflake may have been getting tired at that point because the Lobos had to play several more matches than the Eagles.

After going 3-0 and dropping just one set in pool play, Thatcher ran the table in bracket play without dropping a set.

In bracket play, Thatcher defeated Pima in the first round, Miami in the second round, Window Rock in the third round, then Safford and Snowflake.

Brown said the tournament experiences have brought her players closer together. She also thinks the tourneys are good practice for the upcoming state playoffs.

Pima went to the loser’s bracket and beat Duncan in the first round before falling to St. David in the second round.

Fort Thomas was funneled into the consolation bracket after pool play. The Apaches advanced to the finals and won the consolation title.

Safford eliminated St. David and St. Johns in bracket play before falling to Thatcher.

Local players who made the all-tournament team included Delaney Norton (Pima), Bea Villalba (Safford), Lexi Peru (Safford), and Rachel Orr, Madison Rowan, Jeni Romney and Heather Lucero of Thatcher.