KPs 2025 High School Boys’ Volleyball Preview (Part 1 of 3)

The 2025 boys’ high school season should be exciting. Many states are sanctioned and have a rich history of boys’ volleyball. Some states like Minnesota are just becoming sanctioned, while states like Texas offer the sport and are working diligently on getting boys’ volleyball sanctioned. First Point continues to push for high school boys’ volleyball to grow. They are raising funds, awareness and even hosting a tournament in Texas.

We reached out to all the volleyball leaders in each state to make this article possible. This preview would not be possible without all the leaders submitting information. The leaders’ names are included with the state. Some states did not have the time to submit a write-up. Towards the end of May Volleyball Magazine will do recap of the 2025 season. Make sure to reach out to kevinpratte6@gmail.com to have your state or region be highlighted. In the recap article we will make sure to highlight New York, Virginia, and Wisconsin that offers boys’ volleyball in the fall.

Over the next couple of days, we will be releasing our three part article. Good luck to all the teams this season and we look forward to covering the sport this spring.

 

Southern Section, California:  

(Michael Boehle) 

The California Southern Section is massive.  It ranges from Santa Barbara to San Clemente and goes all the way to the Arizona border.  The top talent tends to be in the Southern California beach communities.  Many of the high school athletes play for some of the top clubs, MB Surf, Balboa Bay, Rockstar, 949, and many more.  Some of the top teams competing for league and CIF titles will be Loyola, Mira Costa and Newport Harbor. 

Top Teams: 

1. Loyola 

1. Mira Costa 

1. Huntington  

1. San Clemente 

1. Newport Harbor 

Top Players: 

1. Grayson Bradford, Mira Costa 

1. Blake Fahlbusch, Loyola 

1. Marek Turner, Woodrow Wilson 

1. Cooper Keane, Mira Costa 

1. Jack Loper, San Clemente 

 

Quoteworthy: “Every year the level of high school boys’ volleyball increases, this year being no different.  Loyola, Mira Costa, Newport, Huntington Beach, to name a few will once again compete in a much more well-rounded southern section.  Mira Costa will come in as the favorite with eight to ten teams that can certainly win it all,” – Michael Boehle, Loyola Head Coach and AVCA Coach of the Year ’23 and ’24. 

Arizona: 

(Kevin Powell) 

With the graduation of an incredibly strong senior class last year, it opens things up for some other programs to make themselves known this season. While there are still plenty of talented seniors this year, the younger players on some of these top teams are going to be the ones who determine if their program wins it all or loses to a more consistent opponent. 

Top programs:
1 – Sandra Day O’Connor
2 – Perry
3 – Highland
4 – Casteel
5 – Higley
 

Players to watch: 
OH – Carter King (Sandra Day O’Connor)
OH – Greyson Carter (Perry)
MB – Joe Hodgson (Highland)
L – Layton Bluth (Casteel)
OPP – Brayden Vanderpool (Higley) 

Noteworthy: This year brings conference realignment, splitting AZ into 4 conferences (6A-3A). The most intriguing storyline is the new addition of teams moving from 5A up to 6A this year (Higley, Casteel, and Williams Field). These teams have done well in 5A and will have to prove they have the consistency to win against the 6A teams that bring more physicality, experience, and coaching to the table.
 

Quoteworthy: ”6A should see more parity this year than we have in the past. The top 8 through 10 teams should beat each other up during the season, and then the state tournament will be decided by matchups and who can perform when it matters. With the other conferences having some clear front-runners, 6A should be a dog fight of a tournament this year.” –Kevin Powell (Mountain View) 

 

Colorado: 

(David Zimmerman) 

As the sport of boys’ volleyball continues to grow in Colorado, CHSSA has decided to split into two divisions, 5A and 4A to help create better match ups and opportunities for state playoffs. This year includes more than 70 teams, and as the talent and experience continue to grow across the state, there has been an explosion of great match ups and parody. Mountain Vista won their first ever boys volleyball state championship last season upsetting multiple preseason favorites. While there are some teams in good positions to win it all this season, the continued growth of the sport will mean that no team is guaranteed to win it all. 

Top programs
1 – Mountain Vista, the defending state champion
2 — Littleton Public Schools
3 – Grandview
4 – Legend
5 – Fountain-Fort Carson (defending state runner up)  

Top Players: 
S — Rafa Urbina (Legacy)  

OH — Jackson Shaw (Eaglecrest)
S — Hayden Dejager (LPS)
OH — Tristan Rowley (Vista Peak)
OH — Luke Colquette (Mountain Vista) 

OH – Reed Fisk (Valor Christian) 

Noteworthy: With the split to 5A and 4A, more teams will get a chance to compete in State playoffs in their respective division. Arvada West, a new program last year (2024) that showed early promise by breaking into regionals will be the Colorado State representative for the First Point Foundations 1st Annual Boys volleyball invitational in Austin, Texas on March 28th through March 30th. This is the first ever boy’s national high school tournament of its kind, and it will conclude with a player clinic run by USMNT coaches Karch Kiraly and Luka Slabe. This is of particular note because First Point Foundation was the organization that pushed for the sanctioning of boys’ volleyball in Colorado.  

Quoteworthy: “I am really excited by the continued growth of boys’ volleyball in Colorado. More and more boys are giving this sport a chance and this is leading to Colorado players getting opportunities to play at the next level and as a coach, I can’t think of anything better than to see one my players get to play in college” — Head Coach Dave Zimmerman of Arvada West High School. 

 

Florida: 

(Charles Norman)
 

Florida High School Boys’ Volleyball has gone through a huge change over the offseason.  Every team used to play in one class, there would only be one state champ.  This year there will be three classes and three state champs.  The class the schools are placed in are based on the population of the school. 

Top Players:   

1. Tyler Windt – Outside – Lake Howell 
2. Jacob Little Philips – Setter – Winter Park 
3. Tyler Johnson – Setter – Cypress Bay  
4. Isaiah McCoy – Middle – King’s Academy
5. Micah Amestoy – Opposite – King’s Academy

 

Top Schools  

1. Winter Park 
2. Southwest Miami
3. King’s Academy
4. Lake Howell
5. Columbus

Noteworthy:  The True North Slunks Invitational will be the largest high school tournament run in the state this year with 32 participating teams. 

Quoteworthy: ”Florida features some of the best volleyball in the nation for high school. I can’t imagine we won’t see teams like Winter Park and Miami at the state championships later this year. It’s also always fun to watch college commits to rival schools play each other.” – Max Kuhn, Global Outreach. 

“The level of volleyball in Miami and Florida altogether has progressively gotten better and better over the past couple of years.  It’s really a sight to see because anyone can upset anybody on any given night,” – Head Coach Emilio Urgell, Mater Lakes Academy. 

 

Hawaii: 

Hawaii volleyball continues to have a steady stream of talent coming from all of the islands. Over 100 teams play in two different divisions of play with two teams winning the Division 1 and Division 2 state title at the end of the year. This year Hawaiian high school programs are scheduled to come out to The Best of the West tournament in San Diego, CA. 

 

Top Programs:  

1 Punahou  

2. Moanalua 
3. University Lab School 
4. KSK Hawaii 
5. Iolani 
6. KSK Kapalama 
7. Mililani 
8. Hawaii Baptist 
9. St. Louis 
10. Mid Pacific 

 

Top Players: 

1. Cameron Porter (PUN) 

1.  Afatia Thompson (PUN)  

1. Wil Niethammer (PUN)  

1. Tanoa Scanlan (PUN) 

1. Malu Wilcox (MOAN) 

1.  Ezekiel Sablan (MOAN) 

1. Koa Laboy (UH LAB) 

1. Trey Ambrozitch (UH LAB) 

1. Noa Yamashiroya (IOL) 

1. Connor Williams (KSK) 

1.  Cullen Pua (KSK BI) 

Noteworthy: The Clash of the Titans Boys Volleyball Tourney takes place Easter weekend at Punahou. Eight of the top teams from Hawaii and the mainland play in two pools in a best of five match format to decide the best of the best. Past tourney winners are Mira Costa (CA), Huntington Beach (CA) Corona Del Mar (CA) & Punahou (HI). 

Quoteworthy: “Lots of good teams with solid talent reside in the state of Hawaii this year. As always, who ever comes out on top at the end of the season will have run the gauntlet and will have earned it,” – Rick Tune, Punahou Head Coach.   

 

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