8 burning questions in Arizona's fall high school sports season

The halfway point of the Arizona Interscholastic Association's fall season already has been reached in several sports. With that in mind, here are eight key questions in fall sports other than football we're watching. For football questions, The Republic's Richard Obert has you covered.

How will the first volleyball rankings look?

The AIA’s first state volleyball rankings will be released on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Last year, clear-cut favorites emerged fairly early at each big school level. This year seems to be somewhat different, at least early on.

For all its criticism, the AIA rankings usually do a good job of highlighting the best teams in the state. So it will be interesting to see how the rankings rate preseason favorites, such as Hamilton, Perry, Horizon and Salpointe compared to teams that have impressed in hot starts, like Millennium and Estrella Foothills.

What do Hamilton's volleyball losses suggest?

Speaking of Hamilton, the Huskies — who lost their top two outside hitters to graduation — lost twice at last week’s Nike Tournament of Champions. Of course, tournament games are always weird. They’re only three sets and require teams to play multiple games a day, producing unexpected outcomes. Plus, Hamilton did start 16-0.

But with last week’s results, the Huskies already matched their total number of in-state losses from last year. This week should be fairly straightforward for Sharon Vanis’ team, but their Sept. 28 trip to Perry is setting up to be a huge early-season tilt.

How will Horizon look with Teraya Sigler?

Much like Hamilton, Horizon had its share of struggles at the Tournament of Champions. The reigning 5A champions lost three games on Saturday alone — although they have since bounced back with wins over Campo Verde and Ironwood.

This week, though, Horizon will be boosted by the end of sophomore Teraya Sigler’s sit-out period. Sigler was an All-Arizona selection as a freshman at Phoenix Country Day before transferring over the summer. The Huskies could be unstoppable with her lining up opposite Kendal Murray.

Can anyone touch Chino Valley in girls soccer?

After three successive state championship game defeats between 2017 and 2019, Chino Valley finally took home its second 2A title in girls soccer last fall. This year’s squad looks like it could be even more dominant. The Cougars are 14-0, have outscored opponents 97-7 and senior Kaitlyn Roskopf has a ridiculous 37 goals and nine assists.

Last week, Roskopf led Chino Valley past Northland Prep — the four-time state champs from 2017 to 2020 — with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win. If the Cougars can win again in this week’s rematch, it’ll be hard to see anyone taking them down.

Can anyone touch Chino Valley in boys soccer?

In boys 2A soccer, the same question holds. Unlike the girls season, the boys season is only three games old, but Chino Valley has been similarly dominant following last year’s championship. They’re outscoring opponents 14-1.

Thursday’s state championship game rematch against Camp Verde will be a test of the Cougars’ ability to repeat last year’s success.

How will Valley Christian's Lauren Ping do in her next race?

In three years at Desert Vista, Lauren Ping was the unquestioned best runner in the state. Before then, she was one of the best high school runners in Minnesota despite being in seventh and eighth grade. And next fall, she’ll be running at Oklahoma State, a national powerhouse.

But Ping’s first race at Valley Christian, where she transferred to in the off-season, was an odd one. At 17:58.9, it was her fourth slowest time of high school. That being said, early season races don't always indicae how things will end up. Last year, Ping took a minute and a half off her time between her first and second races of the season. Look for a similar leap at her next race, whether that’s this weekend at the Western Equinox XC Festival or the following week at the notoriously fast Desert Twilight XC Festival.

MORE:

Was Hamilton-Brophy boys golf match precursor of championship?

Xavier, Hamilton clash in match of top girls golf contenders.

Are Chandler’s Kibia brothers the best runners in D-I?

Sticking with cross country, Chandler’s Gibson and Francis Kibia have the second and third fastest times in the state so far this season — and the two best times in Division I. Last year, the pair finished seventh and 29th, respectively, at the Division I state championships.

While Gibson’s time was the fastest among all non-seniors, Francis has trimmed more than a minute off his personal record. If the two brothers can keep it up and be the two best runners in Division I — or even the state — it would be quite the story.

Will Chaparral again dominate boys swimming?

Before the season, Chaparral was widely expected to be the best team in Arizona swimming after placing second at last year’s state championships. So far, that expectation has held true.

But Saturday’s Brophy/Xavier Invitational will be the first meet of the season for Brophy Prep, which won 32 straight titles before Desert Vista took home the crown last year. The Broncos are likely Chaparral’s toughest competition.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 8 burning questions in Arizona high school sports