It’s match week at Desert Vista. Volleyball coach Molly West arrives 30 minutes prior to Monday’s 3:30 p.m. practice time, eager to prepare for Wednesday’s season opener against Pinnacle.

She emphasizes this match isn’t an ordinary one. Last year, the Pioneers defeated her team in four sets, a loss that was the first of four in five matches. West is ready for revenge.

Practice begins, but she isn’t pleased. After her team completes its first drill, West huddles them up and urges more intensity.

“You have to be ready and come in to work,” she says. “If you practice like this, you’re going to play like this. Keep each other accountable.”

Behind West stand two of her assistants, Kelsey Steuber and Maggie Byrne-Quinn. Both are on the sidelines, but not long ago, they were in the same shoes as each of the 14 players in front of them.

Steuber and Byrne-Quinn are two of four coaches on West’s staff that once played for her in high school. Now graduated and into early adulthood, both offer time to their former coach out of gratitude for her impact.

“She’s such a good leader,” Steuber says. “She’s so assertive, and you listen when she talks and commands a room, but at the same time, we can sit down and we can talk life, kids and relationships.”

Steuber has known West for most of her career, dating to when she joined club at 12. She then played for West at Desert Vista from 2002 to 2006, helping the team qualify for three state tournament berths and a trip to the 5A State Championship game in 2004.

But things weren’t always perfect between Steuber and her coach. She recalls being kicked out of practice during her senior year, a moment she can appreciate now more than then.

“I totally deserved it at the time,” Steuber says. “I didn’t have a good attitude and she called me out on it. She sent me home, and she said, ‘If you can’t be a good teammate, you can’t come in and work hard and do the things you need to do, you need to go home.’

“You have to be accountable for your actions, whether you’re right or wrong.”

Byrne-Quinn also had memorable years at Desert Vista, leading the program to its first state championship as a senior in 2014. She was a captain for that team, earning all-state honors as a middle blocker.

As one of the team’s key players, Byrne-Quinn recalls the high expectations West set at the beginning of that season. She says without them, the success wouldn’t have followed.

“The year before, we knew we were pretty good,” Byrne-Quinn says. “We worked hard, and then I think we lost in the quarterfinals, and we were all just devastated. Our senior year, we just went back working harder than ever, because we knew we actually could [win] that year.

“We just came in and worked our butts off every single day and went 110 percent no matter what. Our practices were sometimes more competitive than our games, and it was just a great experience.”

As 5:30 p.m. approaches, two more of West’s proteges enter the gym: Brigita Mazar and Peyton Shuckhart. The pair talk like old friends, but the contrast in history echoes West’s impact.

Mazar has the most experience with West, meeting her when they played and coached at McClintock in the early 1990s. Mazar was the team’s setter, the same position West played.

After graduating, Mazar thought her playing days were over. West encouraged her to keep going.

“Molly actually had talked to me about just trying out at community college,” Mazar says. “So I went to Scottsdale, tried out there and ended up walking on. And then the following year, I was offered a scholarship there.

“I didn’t think I really had the ability to play in college. I didn’t think I had the skill for that. Without her, I wouldn’t have even thought to go try out myself. So I have her to thank for my small college career.”

Shuckhart is the youngest of the four returning coaches, graduating from Desert Vista in 2014. But her experience with West makes their relationship just as strong. She suffered an ankle injury during her senior season, an opportunity West took to turn her into an all-around leader.

“I had to learn to be a leader on the sidelines,” Shuckhart says. “About the first half of the season, I was in a cast, so I didn’t really get to play much. But she gave me different roles to lead.

“She taught me different life experiences that I carry over into my current life right now. The basics as in being 15 minutes early, making sure I’m always prepared, but also how to lead people by example and how to handle situations. Defeats always turn into a life lesson.

“I think she did an awesome job and I definitely think that who I am today has a lot to do with her and the program she ran. She definitely is a huge role model and her coaching techniques still carry over to me to this day when I come to the kids.”

West and her four students cross paths at the end of varsity practice, a reunion of history spanning over 20 years. Each one greets their former coach, all holding a bond unique to themselves.

West stresses her door is always open. It’s not required to enter, but she’ll ensure that each player leaves prepared for life.

These lessons have already brought four players back to her corner. They likely won’t be the last.

“I really want to instill that it’s important that they work hard and do their best,” West says. “And even when we do that, we still may not win, but to work hard and do their best creates luck and opportunity.

“I think it just goes to a fundamental piece that hopefully, there’s a trust that is developed in the gym with them. That they can feel as if they want to come to me, they can, and if they don’t, that’s ok too.”