Goodyear volleyball player works way to stardom

By Richard Smith
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It took a few years for Sadie Snyder to see herself as the volleyball star that her high school coaches noticed before her first game with Estrella Foothills.

She was the lone freshman on a 32-1 team that won the program’s first state title. And she was not just there to watch and learn, playing frequently as a right side and finishing fourth on the team in kills.

“In open gyms in the summer, we were watching her. One of the coaches said, I don’t know if we can not take this one,” said Coach Michael Matteson, then an assistant for Jennifer Gonzales. “We dropped her on the right side and she was great at it. She really learned from those seniors.”

Snyder played out of position as a freshman. By her sophomore year, she was the primary outside hitter, a role she excelled in for the 4A runner up team in 2023 and the 2024 state champions - and she added a beach volleyball title this spring.

Now a senior hitter and the most visible link to the Wolves dynasty, Snyder enters the 4A playoffs Nov. 4 believing a very different Estrella Foothills team is ready to contend again.

“We’ve started to consistently get a lineup and I feel like the trust is starting to grow,” Snyder said.

She did not get involved in club volleyball until her freshman year. Snyder also played soccer.

Before she started high school, though, Snyder watched the local team make its first state title in 2019. They followed it up with a 4A quarterfinals appearance in 2020 and a semifinal spot in 2021

“Volleyball had always been my main sport,” Snyder said. “Estrella, compared to other high schools, was very different. I feel like Estrella has better team culture, compared to other teams. When I was younger and watching them, I thought, ‘Wow, this team is undersized but they’re beating these massive girls.’”

Her emotional connection with the program and among Wolves players only grew as the program rolled to its inaugural state title without suffering a regular season loss.

Eleven seniors led the way to the big trophy.

“Being the baby on the team, I was the only freshman. It was their way, and their way is winning,” Snyder said. “I learned to go for every ball. Volleyball is meant to be a game to have fun, and if you’re not enjoying it, you’re not playing right.”

The next year, Snyder and senior middle blocker Aubrey Goodere shared the attacking responsibilities. They combined for 7.1 kills per set.

Snyder also began to realize she could play pretty high up at the next level.

“She always came in to work. That’s the kind of attitude and work ethic you need to go DI. She maybe didn’t realize it, but she always had it,” Matteson said. “In her sophomore year I think she realized she could make this happen.”

She verbally committed to play her college ball at Boise State University in the summer of 2024.

“They are so much like a family. The city is so clean and so nice. The coaches were right for me,” Snyder said. “They would make it fun in the gym, and that’s where I wanted to continue. I love their culture and environment.”

Snyder stepped up last year with confidence from winning a state title before.

In the state title run, she averaged two more kills per set than any other Estrella Foothills player. Snyder led all players with 15 kills in the Wolves three-set sweep of Tucson Mica Mountain in the 4A title game.

“My teammates aren’t going to be mad at me if I make an error. Having that kind of mentality and sharing that mentality with the others made it my role to not be upset when I made an error,” Snyder said.

Gonzales stepped down in late March after 11 years as head coach.

The news was a major surprise to Snyder.

“My entire career, I was an underdog. She was one of the biggest coaches to tell me, ‘You can do this, and you will do this.’ She gave me a new level of confidence and she pushed me. She compared me to girls that were three years older than me,” Snyder said.

Along with the coaching change, four starters in last year’s title game graduated. Results have been a bit uneven, with the Wolves finishing the regular season 20-6 — with five 1-1 ties in tournament matches — and falling to the #13 seed in 4A.

At times, this team is still working on trusting each other, Snyder said, and it has been harder for people to accept roles. She said there were positive signs in recent weeks.

Her 409 kills lead the team, but Matteson said Synder’s biggest growth this year is in her all around game. She’s second on the squad with 207 digs and second with 58 aces.

For three years, the Wolves would substitute in a defensive specialist for her. Not this year, Matteson said, as she’s improved as a passer and defender.

She’s also a bit more selective.

“She understands that now, that by sharing the ball she’ll get open more and it will help her to put it away,” Matteson said.

Richard Smith
Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.