Video: TOC Volleyball - Desert Vista (AZ) 2014-15There was an odd shift at the beginning of the girls volleyball season and that was corrected over the weekend.
Despite being the Division I defending state champion with eight players who have committed to colleges,
Desert Vista (Phoenix) was, or at least felt, overlooked and that other programs were getting some preseason attention.
"It seems like others are getting the attention and that's fine," Thunder coach Molly West said. "
Xavier College Prep (Phoenix) is pretty good,
Sunnyslope (Phoenix) is pretty good. That's fine with me."
Xavier began the year nationally ranked and last year's runner-up
Hamilton (Chandler) was being pegged as a top contender.
The Thunder are always in the conversation about title contenders, but never pulled it off until last season. It's pretty clear that playing as the defending champion hasn't hindered Desert Vista, as the Thunder won the annual Tournament of Champions at Westwood.
Desert Vista won it all last season and is looking to keep fans happy once again.
File photo by Mark Jones
They went 9-0 in the tournament to improve to 13-1 on the year, including a three-set, 22-25, 25-11 and 17-15 win over Hamilton despite trailing 7-2 in the final set.
"I like what I've seen so far from this team, especially their resilience," West said afterward. "We've put ourselves behind in some matches, but have been able to show some grit and come back. That happened in this one. We're developing good chemistry."
The chemistry developed quickly, considering the Thunder, who are ranked No. 39 nationally in the MaxPreps Computer Rankings presented by the Army National Guard, had trouble putting together their full lineup until a couple of days before the Westwood tournament.
"We are just now fully dressed out," West said. "We've been dealing with injuries and illness. It's kind of nice right now. We are still working on some bugs and getting back to full strength."
The tournament featured most of the top programs around, although Xavier was in Las Vegas playing in the Durango Fall Classic.
The Thunder's lone defeat heading into the week came against
Gilbert and just showed that as good as Desert Vista can be, the opposition is going play that much harder against them because of last year's title.
"It was a great match," West said. "It was incredibly physical and it didn't feel like a high school match at all. It was a fun match. It was good for us. No one is going to give it to us. We have to go win it again."
Basha (Chandler) lost in three sets last week to Desert Vista but had late leads in two of the sets and scored at least 20 in all three.
"Even though we don't match up player to player, we do in heart and how we feel about the game," Basha senior
Justine Spann said. "Desert Vista plays at a high level, and even though we lost, we matched it."
Gilbert, Xavier, Sunnyslope and younger teams like Basha and
Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) have a chance to topple Desert Vista.
"There are a lot of good teams out there," said West, who won her 500th career match at Desert Vista in last year's postseason.
The other divisions are just as wide open this early in the season.
Division II has
Salpointe Catholic (Tucson),
Sahuaro (Tucson),
Notre Dame Prep (Scottsdale) and
Flagstaff (Flagstaff) playing at a high level.
Verrado (Buckeye),
Horizon Honors (Phoenix),
Greenway (Phoenix) and
Casa Grande are off to undefeated starts a few weeks into the Division III season.
The smaller divisions – Division IV and V – are a little more muddled in the early going.
No matter who is at the top now, it could all change before the postseason arrives in November.
"It's going to be about who is going to get better and play well at the end and the stars have to be aligned just right," West said.
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.
