High school boys volleyball: Inaugural season begins with Lone Peak, Olympus, Orem, Juan Diego, American Heritage tabbed as No. 1

James Edward
·2 min read
High school boys volleyball teams compete at Northridge High School in Layton on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
High school boys volleyball teams compete at Northridge High School in Layton on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

In March of 2022, the UHSAA Board of Trustees approved boys volleyball as a new sanctioned sport beginning in the spring of 2024.

What was once two years away is now just a week away as the inaugural season is slated to begin on March 4.

As the season gets underway, the following teams have been voted preseason No. 1 in their respective classification in the Deseret News preseason coaches rankings: Lone Peak (6A), Olympus (5A), Orem (4A), Juan Diego (3A) and American Heritage (2A).

Lone Peak coach Cecil Read said this opportunity is a long time coming.

“Its an exciting time in Utah boys volleyball and we are all grateful to get this thing started,” Read said.

Olympus coach Brett Peterson echoed that sentiment as his team is ready for its inaugural match against Skyridge on March 5.

“Boys across the state are extremely excited for their first official year of high school volleyball, and it has been impressive to watch the improvement in the quality of boys volleyball as well as the quantity of boys playing the sport here in Utah,” said Peterson.

“I think the competition for state championships is wide open this year across the classifications with a lot of really impressive teams and athletes ready to make a push for the inaugural titles.”

A full slate of schools will compete in 6A (18 teams), 5A (28 teams) and 4A (25 teams).

Much fewer teams will compete in 3A and 2A, with only eight teams in each classification.

Among them is American Heritage, which opens the season ranked No. 1 in 2A.

“We are all just excited to have UHSAA volleyball for the first time,” said American Heritage coach Robert Mendenhall.

Deseret News preseason coaches rankings

Class 6A

Team

  1. Lone Peak

  2. Riverton

  3. Westlake

  4. Skyridge

  5. Corner Canyon

Class 5A

Team

  1. Olympus

  2. Maple Mountain

  3. Skyline

  4. Timpview

  5. Wasatch

Class 4A

Team

  1. Orem

  2. Mountain View

  3. Provo

  4. Desert Hills

  5. Sky View

Class 3A

Team

  1. Juan Diego

  2. North Sanpete

  3. Carbon

  4. Morgan

  5. Grantsville

Class 2A

Team

  1. American Heritage

  2. Salt Lake Academy

  3. Wasatch Academy

  4. Rockwell

  5. Freedom Prep