Thomas Bonvehi is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Mountain High school for AZPreps365.com.

Desert Mountain co-head coach Dana Achtzehn was in disbelief after being inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame, but for him, it became a life-changing moment when his daughter and assistant, Rylee Achtzehn, was inducted with him.

“It’s a huge honor,” Dana Achtzehn said. “It’s really exciting to have that. To be in any Hall of Fame and the time we spent here. We had no idea it was coming and then getting to do it with your daughter at the same time, it doesn’t get any better than that.” 

Dana Achtzehn, who is 56 years old and has been a head coach since 2019, led previous teams to multiple playoff appearances and helped players secure scholarships, such as senior Ava Archibald, who has committed to New Mexico State University.

“I keep telling everyone, we were very grateful he got his 100th career win,” co-head coach of Desert Mountain volleyball girls Marissa McNamara said. “I finally could pull off a surprise and actually surprise him with this huge honor.”

Dana Achtzehn was inducted into the Hall of Fame after winning his two-year battle with what was originally diagnosed as terminal cancer.

Dana Achtzehn said he had no idea beforehand that the induction was taking place.

His daughter, Rylee, was a former volleyball player at Desert Mountain, and coached under her dad.

Rylee spent two years playing at Southern Utah, before transferring to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. There she won a conference championship in her senior year,and played in the NCAA Tournament. She then returned to help coach Desert Mountain alongside her father, leading to her induction into the school’s Hall of Fame as well.

“It doesn’t get any cooler than watching your daughter play at those levels,” Dana Achtzehn said. “It was just unbelievable.”

McNamara spoke about how the school had been planning the induction since the previous summer.

“We had a lot of support with the school behind it,” McNamara said. “We’ve been planning this since May, before the summer, so I was really excited to come here and just be able to honor him and have his legacy at the school forever.”

Both Achtzehns join a short but memorable Desert Mountain Hall of Fame list, which includes Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews and Detroit Lions quarterback Kyle Allen.

After the game, Dana Achtzehn said how growing relationships with the kids matter more than the wins.

“The wins and losses come and go,” Dana Achtzehn said. “It’s the relationships. I always said, when I took over the program, I was going to build a program that the girls would have anything any boys program had or more. To see over the years, seven years worth of players come through. It’s been really cool to give the girls that.”