Girls volleyball preview: Bishop Gorman, Coronado among title favorites
Gregg Nunley said when he took over as Bishop Gorman’s girls volleyball coach in 2018 that he wanted the program to be one of the top teams in the nation every year.
But the Gaels were only focused on getting a state title last season after being upset in the 2022 state tournament.
“The kids weren’t interested in (national accolades),” Nunley said. “They only had one thing on their mind and set their sights on one thing and that was winning the state tournament after not having done that the previous year.”
The girls volleyball season starts Thursday, but most teams will begin play the following week. Bishop Gorman enters the campaign as the defending 5A state champions and is an early favorite to repeat.
“Everything that we did in practice, matches, everything we did as a team, these kids were super hyper-focused on winning the state championship,” Nunley said. “That was awesome.”
Coronado should be one of the Gaels’ biggest challengers. The Cougars lost to Bishop Gorman twice during the postseason, once in the Southern Region title match and again in the 5A state title match.
“Our goal is to do what we did last season, but one notch up and try to win the whole thing,” Coronado coach Melody Nua said. “We have a little bit more maturity, we have a better mental fortitude in us and we can attack it a little bit better than we did last year. Talent-wise, they were very capable, but mentally, not there yet.”
Coronado brings back most of its starters from last season. Juniors Rachel Purser, Julie Beckham and Gentry Oblad headline the Cougars’ returning group.
“The best part is our big scoring kids, they’re all coming back and they’ll be back again,” Nua said. “For us, you’ll see a lot more maturity and experience. We have bigger people playing in the front row and defensively, we’ll have some more options.”
Bishop Gorman’s top returners had a busy summer. Juniors Trinity Thompson and Ayanna Watson committed to Pittsburgh and senior Brooklynn Williams committed to UNLV.
Watson is one of the nation’s top 2026 volleyball recruits. She was named the 5A player of the year last season and led the state with 605 kills.
“There are coaches who coach their entire life never having a player of (Watson’s) caliber walk into their gym,” Nunley said. “She is nowhere close to her potential and she realizes that. She wants to get better every day and she does it … she’s super special.”
Arbor View, Faith Lutheran and Palo Verde are other teams to watch out for, Nunley said.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Nunley said. “Reaching our goal this year is not going to be easy. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
In 4A, Durango won the state title last season. The Trailblazers are the favorite to repeat with outside hitter Angelina Guerrero returning. Guerrero was the 4A player of the year as a junior last season after recording 444 kills.
The Meadows should be a contender for the 3A title. The Mustangs bring back several key players from last year’s state-title team that won a five-set thriller over Boulder City in the championship match.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.