Max Zepeda is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

For most high schools in Arizona, the importance of having athletics on campus is defined by the sports that garnish the most attention, success, and, most importantly, money.

However, there are those specific schools where, with enough focus and determination, a sport that the general public usually does not appreciate can break the systemic norms and obtain a significant fan following.

That is what has happened at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, specifically with its volleyball program. Over the last five years, the sport has become a significant part of campus life, which has led to its players gaining serious popularity amongst students to nearly a similar level as football players.

It was not a trend that triggered overnight.

When current volleyball head coach Dana Achtzehn took over the Desert Mountain program in 2019, the team had been in what-seemed-to-be an unending slump. According to MaxPreps, with the exception of a Cinderella run in 2014, the Wolves were routinely one of the bottom teams in Division II and the 5A Conference.

“Volleyball was certainly in a very different place before Dana arrived,” assistant principal John Andrews said. “His presence was clearly something I do not believe those who had been at Desert Mountain had seen at this program, maybe ever.

While serving as one of four assistant principals at Desert Mountain, Andrews is also the lead guidance counselor for all student-athletes on campus. He has personally prided himself in this role, as he helped hundreds of students, including those in the volleyball program, balance their responsibilities on the court and in the classroom.

Meanwhile, it was not just Achtzehn who had the unique vision of revitalizing the program but also the assistants around him. This includes current assistant coach Kileigh Swinton, who joined alongside Achtzehn in 2019.

“The culture that he wanted to set was evident from the get-go,” Swinton said. “It was like, ‘Whatever the men’s programs have, we’re gonna have,’ and he understood how to market just like the other sports from the very beginning.”

The plan that they had laid out to help grow the program was simple and driven by two words: name recognition. From making custom t-shirts to theme nights for different matches, to even promoting players’ stories throughout the season, the new coaching regime tried to set a new standard for how to market a volleyball program.

According to the DMHS volleyball website, the program now has a merchandise store where you can purchase shirts to support the program. It also gives parents and alumni the opportunity to become donors of not only the school, but the volleyball program specifically.

Meanwhile on the court, success was slowly entering back into Desert Mountain. As in Achtzehn and Swinton’s first season, the Wolves finished the regular season just under .500 at 14-19. But a 6-6 record in the 5A Northeast, a division that includes perennial volleyball powers such as Horizon and Notre Dame Prep, carried the program to its first postseason appearance in nine years.

Achtzehn’s daughter, Rylee, was a junior and senior in the first two years of her dad's campaign, respectively, and led the team in kills in 2019 and 2020. This two-year run primed the Wolves to return to being a playoff-caliber program.

Nevertheless, according to Achtzehn and Swinton, there was still work to be done.

Since the program's inception, volleyball games at Desert Mountain were played in the school’s main gymnasium, which was also home to the school’s boys’ and girls' basketball programs. While this may be customary for many high schools, it was something that, according to Achtzehn, was hurting the volleyball’s growth.

“There was just one side of the bleachers, and they didn't look full at all,” Achtzehn said. “In the big gym, you know, you kind of get lost with the cheers and the fans, and the environment we wanted to set just did not feel right.”

On the other hand, what the Scottsdale school has that most schools do not is a second gymnasium. For years, Desert Mountain called its second indoor facility its “auxiliary gymnasium,” used for school events throughout the year.

But no sport at Desert Mountain had ever utilized the “extra gym” as a permanent home until Achtzehn promoted the idea in late 2020.

“When Dana came to us about renovating the gym, I would say I think that was a sign the program was shifting,” Andrews said. “I knew with how committed he had been to the program in the years past that the program would be better because of it.”

In 2021, Desert Mountain volleyball moved from the so-called “big gym” to the auxiliary one down the hall, and the change was immediately felt.

From new branding on the walls to posters of players and even their postseason banners, the auxiliary gym became the home of Desert Mountain volleyball for the foreseeable future. It was the perfect catapult for volleyball to become a legitimate sport on campus again.

However, that new system of developing interest and popularity starts from the top and Achtzehn, and according to Swinton, it has worked.

The goal now for the Wolves moving forward is to win.

After four trips to the 5A Playoffs’ Round of 16 in the last five seasons, Achtzehn’s focus is on how early season wins can help the team have a better resume come playoff time.

“We have to get better at handling our business in matches early in the season, and especially ones we expect to win,” Achtzehn said before this year’s Round of 16 match against Sunrise Mountain High School on November 2. “That only comes with building better chemistry and cohesiveness in the beginning of the year, and that is my responsibility.”