Nicole Hoff’s first season coaching Millennium girls volleyball reminds her of her last season playing for the Tigers.
Hoff graduated in 2019 after playing a leading role in the Tigers first state title in 2018. She was named Arizona volleyball player of the year by Prep Volleyball.
That 5A title team was led by eight seniors, the most Hoff had seen — at least until the 2026 varsity squad, which features 11 seniors.
“Stepping into the varsity position, I’m getting the same feelings I had in my senior year,” Hoff said.
Hoff stood out as a player for her ability to slide into digs. She started as a freshman on the 2015 state Division II runners up.
In 2018, Julie Vastine’s Tigers finished 45-1, including a 40-0 record against Arizona opponents.
“My experience at Millennium my senior year was probably my best year of high school,” Hoff said.
She then played for Long Beach State from 2019-2023.
While in California, she started coaching for Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club and realized that was what she wanted to do.
When she moved back to Arizona, Vastine reached out about her joining the staff, and Hoff started coaching the junior varsity in 2024. She was the junior varsity coach for two seasons.
“It helped that we knew her, and I was on her team so I knew the coaching style. It was amazing to have someone who’s so passionate about the sport coming back,” senior middle blocker Riian Warner said.
Hoff is replacing a legend. In 12 years as head coach, Vastine guided the Tigers to two state titles and five runner-up finishes. She is the first coach or player to be honored in Millennium’s yet-to-be-built Legends Plaza.
Vastine taught science at the school for more than 30 years, before it reopened as a renamed Millennium High School in 1999. When she started, the high school was simply called Agua Fria North.
She will still be involved in the program.
Former teammates Alyssa Avitia and Terayah Stukes are Hoff's assistants.
“I have known both of those girls since I was 6 years old,” Hoff said. “They know me better than I know myself.”
Hoff inherited a team with eight returning seniors that finished 20-20 against a brutal 6A schedule in 2025.
Only two seniors graduated. The new coach has a large crew of returning players, including juniors J.J. Taula and Allison Veres and sophomore Kaitlyn Freeman.
“She has really high expectations for this program. She’s definitely implementing them and holding us to a very high standard,” senior setter Cassidy Armstrong said. “There’s new things for this program and it’s really exciting.”
The Tigers did not have to adjust to sweeping changes though. Program traditions will remain.
“We’ve always been really involved in our community. Dig Pink brings in so many people,” Hoff said.
One change was creating groups of one varsity, one junior varsity and one freshman player to meet regularly and get to know each other.
Warner said there was no hardships or conflicts related to the coaching change.
“One thing that stands out for me is she’s not a yeller — not that Coach Vastine was a yeller. She allows you to make mistakes and figure it out, kind of,” Warner said.
Millennium started the season 3-0, winning all three matches in straight sets.
In an interesting twist, the life-long libero’s offseason focus was offense.
“Right now we have a very defensive team, so she’s implementing a lot of new offensive skills she learned from her college and from her play in general. She can definitely relate to us,” Armstrong said.
All the seniors and returning players, plus the relative continuity on the coaching side, made Hoff’s first offseason smooth.
“All of these seniors are bought into the program and want a state championship,” Hoff said. “I have never seen so much support.”
The task of winning a state title will be more difficult than in 2018. The Tigers are now in 6A.
For starters, that means region rival Phoenix Xavier College Prep — ranked No. 6 nationally by MaxPreps — tops the list of teams standing in the way.
“We’re saying goodbye to a lot of seniors, so we want to go out with a big bang. We always want to make it to state and a get a title,” Warner said.
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
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.
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