Charli Utley (from left), Hailey Valdez and Serena Gutierrez.

Take a group of 13 girls age 12-14, some of whom have never played volleyball, and assign them to two coaches who have never coached volleyball and see what you get. In the case of the Spikers, it was an undefeated season in Maricopa’s recreational league competition.

The Spikers went 7-0, finishing their Senior Division season Feb. 24. League ball tends to be short on volunteer coaches, so dads Mike Valdez and John McCullouch agreed to take over, though some of the youngsters knew more about the game than they did. The group quickly turned into a gang of friends who won by having fun.