The Highland (Gilbert) boys volleyball team has been through the gauntlet.

The Hawks were No. 8 in the power rankings, then finished with four straight matches against teams ranked in the top four at the time of their matches.

Highland managed to go 3-1 in those matches and moved up to No. 2 in the final rankings into the start of the Division I state tournament.

It was a bit a preview of what to be expected over the next week: very good teams playing at a high level with the season in balance.

"There are four or five teams I think can win it," Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) coach Fred Mann said. "I don't know who it is and you never know what might happen with a team like us or someone else getting hot at the right time."

The Pride might be a wild card even though they're seeded 19th, as the team is playing for Mann, who is considered a boys volleyball pioneer in Arizona and is moving on from Mountain Pointe after 20 seasons to take over the Perry girls program in the fall.

"I think we got it in us," Mountain Pointe senior Sam Fuller said. "All we needed was a little push and we had that against Hamilton. We owe it to him to go out battle. It might not end up in a championship but we are going to play hard and with the intensity we just showed the rest of the way."

The favorite has to be Desert Vista (Phoenix) as the Thunder were the only team able to go through the power ranking matches undefeated. Mesa earned the third seed and Gilbert is fourth.

"To me they have better ball control than most teams in the state, they have more athletes than most teams in state," said Brophy College Prep (Phoenix) coach Tony Oldani, whose team is No. 5. "It is their state to win."

The Broncos were No. 1 before falling to the Thunder late in the season when the Broncos were without four players for various reasons. Brophy ended the year with a loss to Highland, but the Broncos are expected to be back at full strength for the postseason.

Desert Vista, which lost to Highland in the finals of the Brophy Invite last month, has a good all-around team that isn't dependent on one big hitter.

It's a similar roster makeup to the one that led Desert Vista to its only title back in 2007.

"They're real similar," Desert Vista coach then and now Ryan Tolman said. "The state championship team played with a lot of emotion. It was a very experienced team like this one is.

"There weren't many holes on that team just like this one. We will see if we can duplicate it."

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Ahwatukee Foothills News staff writer, is a 18-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.