Longtime volleyball coach Amy Johnson is slated to become the first volleyball coach in school history when she takes the court for the Mica Mountain Thunderbolts this fall.
Johnson had successful stops at Salpointe and, more recently Sabino, before making the move. Mica Mountain will participate in girls volleyball initially and will hold off on boy’s competition. The two other Vail District high schools, Empire and Cienega, field girl’s teams but only Cienega participates in boys volleyball. None of the Vail schools compete in beach volleyball.
“I am excited about the opportunity to start a new program at Mica Mountain,” Johnson said. “Setting the tone for a brand-new school and program is an exciting opportunity.”
Johnson picked up win number 702 last season after guiding the Sabercats to a 25-12 record and an appearance in the 3A state playoffs. Johnson and Ironwood Ridge coach Bill Lang are the only coaches from Southern Arizona with 700 or wins. Johnson also coached at Waubonsie Valley in Illinois to a 57-18-7 record giving her 759 career wins.
SOUTHERN ARIZONA COACHING RECORDS
Bill Lang, Ironwood Ridge (Active)
703-383 (1,086)
868: Girls (2 runner-up)
218: Boys
Amy Johnson, Salpointe/Sabino/Mica Mountain (Active)
702-200-36 (938)
591: Girls
347: Boys (2 runner-up)
Sandy Novak, Sahuaro
673-203 (876)
402: Girls (2 runner-up)
269: Boys (1 championship & 1 runner-up)
Juanita Kingston, Rincon/UHS
671-301 (972)
455: Girls (1 championship & 1 runner-up)
216: Boys (1 runner-up)
Melva Lundy, Canyon del Oro
592-234 (826)
(1 championship with the boys & 3 runner-up with the boys)
(unknown breakdown)
Heather Moore-Martin, Green Fields, Catalina & Salpointe (Active)
521-172 (693)
479: Girls (2 championships & 2 runner-up)
214: Boys (2 championships)
The new Mica Mountain High School in Vail, slated to open this fall, has its first boys basketball coach, a familiar face who has been highly successful the last two years. The details: https://t.co/gyCxxVEJCv
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) March 18, 2020
FOLLOW @ANDYMORALES8 ON TWITTER!
Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017, a 2019 AZ Education News award winner and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com
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