Photo by Precision Sports Entertainment
The 5th Annual MaxPreps Volleyball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard visited
Desert Vista High School to honor the girls volleyball team during the Winter Sports Assemblies on Jan. 16. The Thunder won the Division I state championship. The Thunder finished ranked No. 5 nationally for the 2014 season. The announcement was made by MaxPreps, a California-based company that ranks more than 17,000 high school girls volleyball teams.
Desert Vista Thunder battled and persevered over Chandlers Hamilton 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 15-6 for the Division I state title. The team ended the season with an amazing 41- 3 record. This is the first state championship title for the girls volleyball team. Lieutenant Colonel Waddington, Sergeant First Class Wester and Sergeant Heredia of the Arizona Army National Guard handed out pens, stickers, and the volleyball team t-shirts, bags and more to students as they entered the gym for the festivities.
The presentation began with a pep rally one of only four throughout the year as the school has over 3,000 students. The students holding the pep rally organized several competitions, the dance team and cheer team did a routine and then they introduced other state champions before the girls volleyball team was announced.
Tim Bolen of MaxPreps kicked off the presentation and explained to the crowd the significance of the Tour of Champions recognition. Tim then introduced SGT Heredia, who gave a short but sincere speech describing what teamwork represents and how some of the same traits are common from a winning team. He then went on to talk about the trophy and what it represents — the Minuteman, which embodies dedication, perseverance, commitment to a cause. SGT Heredia then presented Coach Molly West with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy. Coach West then spoke briefly of the amazing teamwork that made the state championships possible.
She went onto to say, "Although we had some amazing players who did amazing things to produce amazing results it still took the entire team to win the title." Coach West made sure one player was never recognized more than another; it was true teamwork.
After her speech, she handed the trophy to the team. The team celebrated excitedly as they stood for photos and gazed at the Minuteman trophy. The students were rumbling in the stands as they cheered on the new state champions.
Congratulations Desert Vista High School on your state title and national ranking!
