The high school boys volleyball regular season began Feb. 27 in the Valley.

The Surprise Independent asked West Valley coaches to take a look at their teams:

ALA-West Foothills Guardians

4A North Central Region
Coach: Dave Ortiz (first year as head coach)
First year for the program
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We are a very young team so our young players will be getting lots of experience for the future.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? We will need to be more confident and aggressive. Get the basics down.
Who are your team leaders? Our two senior middle hitters, Toa Auau and Tyson Marnier.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? We have 5 freshmen on varsity that get lots of playing time that have the opportunity to shine.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? Be patient and learn from every practice and match we play. Volleyball is a lot more complicated than people know.

Paradise Honors Panthers

4A Skyline Region
Coach: Chris Fuller (first year as head coach)
2022 Record: 2-13, 2-10 region 
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our humility and willingness to learn and grow as a team and individually.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Consistency in our execution.
Who are your team leaders? Ty Pehrson and Braden Stroh are our team captains and are great examples as leading by example.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? Florian Schultness and Julian Artelli-Di Mascio are both welcomed additional to our team who will have big roles this season.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? We need to trust ourselves and play our game. We have a lot of ability and need to focus on consistent execution. We have an opportunity to be a really good team and we are excited for the challenge.

The Shadow Ridge boys volleyball team celebrates its 6A Southwest Region title in April. Sophomore Everett Larson (#8) is a second team all West Valley Preps outside hitter.  (Courtesy Shadow Ridge Athletics Facebook)

Shadow Ridge Stallions

6A West Valley Region

Coach: Joe Volkman (fifth year at Shadow Ridge, 23 years as volleyball coach)
2022 Record: 16-9 overall, 6-0 region (Reached 6A first round)
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? These boys really care about the team and the program. Most of them have been playing year round in club and have gained so much experience over the last couple of years to compete for the state playoffs.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? I think we are primed to be a dominant team in 6A conference, just a couple minor tweaks and we will be set.
Who are your team leaders? Our captains are sophomore setter Austin Kuehler, senior libero Cade Connolly, senior middle Jacoby Larson
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? We have a new outside hitter Ryan Louis. He is a dominant hitter and blocker that is 6-8 and can take over a game.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? Just continue to work hard on the court and in the film room. Really study the game and play for each other. This team is really a great group of young men.

Valley Vista Monsoon

6A West Valley Region
Coach: Heather Webb (fourth year at Valley Vista, 15 years as volleyball coach)
2022 Record: 1-20 overall, 0-5 region
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We are highly motivated and striving to be competitive. The returning members of the team are mentoring our new guys. It is really awesome to observe their passion for the game and how they motivate one another and provide feedback regarding position/skill improvement. Everyone is working to learn the game and they share a unified mission to improve skill, and strengthen their volleyball court IQ.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? As a growing program, our goal is to focus on the fundamentals of the game, staying disciplined to individual skill positions and fortifying the team cohesiveness. Celebrate every point, and motivate one another. Keep the game fun.
Who are your team leaders? Senior captain Noah Katzer and junior co-captain Frankie Zamora.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? Our newest sophomore member Travis Sakurai is sure to have an impact on our offensive game. Defensively, Alex Valdez is proving to be quick and accurate in the back row as libero.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? I am fortunate to coach a group of young men that are athletic, hard working and driven to learn the game; thus improving the overall match outcome. As the momentum increases, because of practice to match implementation, we should see results in our program goals.

Willow Canyon Wildcats

5A Northwest Region
Coach: Matt Overfelt (fifth year as coach).
2022 Record: 17-14 overall, 1-7 region (5A play-in round)
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Maturity and experience.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Communication and energy.
Who are your team leaders? Jean Russell (senior) outside hitter, Paul Petersen (senior) setter, and Adair Blue (senior) middle blocker.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad that could make an impact? Nicolas Cruz recently moved to Arizona from Colombia and has taken over the libero position. Landen Armstong, although not a newcomer to varsity, steps into the second starting middle blocker position.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season, or reach the goals the program has set? Eliminating non-aggressive errors and increasing our on-court communication and energy. Controlling our side of the net.