Feb. 19 marked the beginning of the high school beach volleyball regular season. West Valley Preps asked Surprise coaches to take a look at their teams:

Dysart Demons

Division II, Section V
2023 Record: 2-11
Coach: Spencer Meyer (third year as head coach)
Who are your top returning players/pairs? Dysart's top returning players are our junior, Mia Fleming, and senior, Julie Cozma, who were our top pair last year and are excited for another season. 
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Going into this season, we are proud of our passion and commitment that we are starting the season with compared to previous seasons.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? We will need to continue improving on our ball placement this season to be successful. 
Who are your team leaders? Mia Fleming does a great job of being a leader for the program, on and off the court as Junior class President for Student Council. 
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? Noelani Springer is a ninth grader who has experience playing volleyball and has a positive attitude, which will help our team continue to grow. 
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? Showing up to practice everyday and staying hydrated will help us achieve our goals this season.

Shadow Ridge Stallions

Division I, Section II
Coach: Ian Jensen (first year as head coach)
2023 Record: 5-7
Who are your top returning players/pairs? For 2024 we have Rigley Garrison, Ali Encinas and Paytynn Obie returning and look to have a great season.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our team’s best attribute is the overall attitude we have of support and accountability to each other.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Many athletes on our team have a lot of volleyball experience. Most of it is indoor/court experience. We need to improve on making the shift to the sand strategies when we are on the sand. The more we do that, the more success will come our way.
Who are your team leaders? Rigley Garrison and Paytunn Obie. They are both very respectful and supportive of everyone. They also work very hard to improve daily and set a great example for all of us.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? This year we have Kyriana Lynch and Sarai Cervantes. Kyri is a senior and new to beach volleyball at the high school level, but made a great impact in her effort and athletic ability. She is a multi-sport athlete and is improving quickly and looks to make an impact early. Sarai (she goes by Sal) is a freshman and made a lot of heads turn at tryouts with her speed, precision, effort, and attitude. She has all the attributes of a great teammate and looks to be very competitive in her first year.

Valley Vista Monsoon

Division I, Section II
2023 Record: 10-2 (Reached first round of state playoffs)
Coach: Emma Overfelt (third year as head coach)
Who are your top returning players/pairs? Marielle Ramos/Olivia Moore and Lizzy Moyer/Elise Langley
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Their experience.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? To be more consistent and committed.
Who are your team leaders? Marielle Ramos and Lizzy Moyer.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? Bella Brewer and Ava Hewitt.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? My girls are really looking forward to building off of our success from last year making the state tournament for the first time. Seeing their effort pay off last year is motivating them to take it one game at a time and focus on what we need to do on our side of the net.

Willow Canyon Wildcats

Division I, Section II
2023 Record: 10-2 (Reached first round of state playoffs)
Coach: Emma Overfelt (third year as head coach)
Who are your top returning players/pairs? My top returning players are Averee Morales, Chyler Martin and Hailey Rushton.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? My team has so many amazing attributes this season, but their coachability, flexibility and work ethic makes our practices efficient and will pay off when we get into matches.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? We are a pretty young team with lots of talented indoor girls who are newer to the beach side. Their ability to adapt to the sand combined with their IQ will set us up for success this season.
Who are your team leaders? My team leaders are Averee Morales, Hailey Rushton, Briana Gonzalez and Shia Chancellor.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? We have three talented freshmen in our lineup: Shia Chancellor, Keely Blady and Emory Scogin.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? My girls are really looking forward to building off of our success from last year making the state tournament for the first time. Seeing their effort pay off last year is motivating them to take it one game at a time and focus on what we need to do on our side of the net.