By Brittany Bowyer
Mail

PHOENIX — It’s a busy week for high school sports as a number of teams begin competition this week.

Volleyball gets underway on Wednesday, with a number of North Valley teams beginning competition on opening day.

Cactus Shadows opens up its season at Goodyear, while Pinnacle is on the road against Red Mountain. Chaparral, the 2025 5A State Champs, will kick things off against Lake Havasu, Desert Mountain will host Maricopa, and Saguaro will host Greenway.

Schools like Xavier College Prep get underway on Thursday, hosting Mountain Ridge to begin competition, while Horizon will travel to Skyline for the start of its season. Arcadia also opens against Crismon at home on Thursday.

Thursday is a busy day, as big school football also kicks off that day.

In a 5A battle to start the year, Cactus Shadows will host Desert Edge, while it will be a war between the elites in 6A when Brophy hosts Hamilton at Central High School.

Meanwhile on Friday, Horizon hosts Verrado, Notre Dame Prep travels to Yuma Catholic, Chaparral will be on the road at West Point and Arcadia will host Bradshaw Mountain in a clash of pre-season top-10 teams.

A lot of eyes will be on Saguaro this year as questions have swirled, and they’ll open up the season with a huge test against the 5A State Champs at Desert Mountain, and Pinnacle will put themselves to the test against a tough Edison High School team on the road in California.

Meanwhile for golf, competition continues for a number of teams this week.

For boys on Tuesday, top-ranked Brophy will take on Corona del Sol and Sunnyslope, while Pinnacle will travel to Verrado to face both the Vipers and the Liberty Lions. Saguaro will also tee off against Paradise Valley and Shadow Mountain on Tuesday, while Horizon and Arcadia take on Mountain Pointe. On Wednesday, Brophy will host the Brophy Papago Golf Invite.

For the girls, Horizon takes on Pinnacle on Tuesday, while Xavier College Prep faces off against Corona del Sol and Highland. Chaparral and Notre Dame Prep also will face off against each other on Tuesday. Rounding things out on Wednesday, Pinnacle will travel to Mountain Ridge.

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.