MaxPreps Volleyball Tour of Champions celebrates Corona del Sol High School

The 12th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard made its way to Tempe, Arizona on Tuesday, Jan. 24 to honor the Corona del Sol High School Aztecs girls volleyball team in recognition of its excellent season accomplishments. Corona del Sol is one of only 10 girls volleyball teams selected to be a part of the Tour of Champions, which in its seventh year honoring volleyball.

The Aztecs blanked Mountain Pointe of Phoenix (3-0) on Nov. 9 to claim the Arizona 6A state championship, which was their first since 1991 and second overall.

The award presentation took place in the evening during halftime of the boys basketball game. The students and fans showed their support and filled the gym with excitement in anticipation of the trophy ceremony. The Corona del Sol dance team kicked off the celebration with a chant as they welcomed MaxPreps and the Arizona Army National Guard.

MaxPreps representative Ray Dungee introduced the Tour of Champions and shared the long history before commending the team on its state championship season. He finished his congratulatory message by telling the crowd that their volleyball team was ranked No. 9 in the nation out of 13,000 girls' volleyball team teams across the country.

For the main event, Dungee introduced Sergeant First Class Richard Soto of the Arizona National Guard. SFC Soto continued the ceremony and spoke about the commitment to excellence the coaching staff has instilled in the girls volleyball team. He paralleled the qualities found on a championship team with those found in the Army National Guard – commitment, dedication, hard work, perseverance and more.

As SFC Soto presented the prestigious Army National Guard national ranking trophy to head coach Ben Maxfield and the team, the packed gymnasium broke out in a thunderous applause for a job well done.

Coach Maxfield was thrilled and humbled by this national attention and thanked both the Army National Guard and MaxPreps for recognizing their players. Afterwards, pictures were taken of the players, decked out in their new Tour of Champions t-shirts, and holding their new prize possessions — the Army National Guard national ranking trophy and the nationally ranked rafter banner.

Congratulations to Coach Maxfield and the team on their great season and high national ranking!

Click here to view the Corona del Sol TOC photo gallery and for more information about the Volleyball TOC, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.