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Promise and potential may be nice to talk about, but playing=20
consistently and delivering under pressure were the qualities that =
won=20
All-Foothill League honors in girls volleyball this =
year.
Perhaps=20
no player better demonstrated that than Valencia middle blocker =
Emily=20
Ellias, who was voted this season=E2=80=99s Foothill League Player =
of the=20
Year.
=E2=80=9CShe really played her best matches against =
our toughest=20
competition,=E2=80=9D said Valencia head coach Ray Sanchez. =
=E2=80=9CYou can=E2=80=99t say that=20
about a lot of players. ... That=E2=80=99s the sign of a real =
competitor, a real=20
champion.=E2=80=9D
The senior helped her team win the =
Foothill League and=20
advance to the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division =
IA=20
playoffs, where the Vikings lost to eventual champion=20
Marymount.
Ellias led her team with 239 kills and was =
second on the=20
team with 32 blocks.
=E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99m really excited =
because I put in so much=20
work for it and I felt like I did everything I needed to help my =
team,=E2=80=9D=20
Ellias said.
Valencia had two other seniors represented on =
the=20
All-League First Team, libero Brooke Dawson and middle blocker =
Alexa=20
Schmidt.
Schmidt provided an additional weapon at the net =
for=20
Valencia and its middle-heavy offense.
=E2=80=9CIt =
wasn=E2=80=99t like we had sort=20
of one go-to player,=E2=80=9D Sanchez said. =E2=80=9CWe always had =
multiple players in=20
double-digit kills.=E2=80=9D
In the back row, the Vikings =
had Dawson to=20
take care of the defensive duties.
Both Saugus and West =
Ranch had=20
two players voted onto the first team as well.
West Ranch =
had two=20
seniors on the first team, outside hitter Hannah Orlandi and =
libero Shelby=20
Kunz.
The duo helped anchor the Wildcats=E2=80=99 offense, =
which was built=20
around tough serving. Orlandi led the team with 65 service aces =
and Kunz=20
followed closely with 60.
=E2=80=9CI think they did a =
fantastic job,=E2=80=9D said=20
West Ranch head coach Nate Sparks. =E2=80=9CWhen I asked some of =
the other coaches=20
who were the top two players, they came up with those girls really =
quickly. It was sort of a unanimous.=E2=80=9D
Orlandi also =
led West Ranch=20
in kills (229) and Kunz led in digs (475).
For Saugus, it =
was=20
Junior hitter Jaclyn Clark and sophomore setter Ashley Guthrie =
getting=20
nods for the first team. They were the only two non-seniors to =
make the=20
team.
=E2=80=9CI think it bodes well for having similar =
success next year,=20
if not a little better,=E2=80=9D said Saugus head coach Zach =
Ambrose.
The=20
two worked hand-in-hand executing the high-flying offense of the=20
Centurions.
That came as little surprise to Ambrose, who =
said=20
Guthrie and Clark have been playing volleyball together for =
multiple years=20
in both club and high school play.
=E2=80=9CBesides being =
incredibly=20
athletic players, they were both solid contributors throughout the =
season,=E2=80=9D Ambrose said.
Clark finished with 357 =
kills and Guthrie=20
had 884 assists.
Hart=E2=80=99s senior middle blocker =
Anissa Robinson=20
rounded out the first team.
The league-champion Vikings =
also had=20
three sophomores receive league honors, with two on the =
second-team and on=20
honorable mention.
Canyon libero Khrista Prudencio made the =
second-team and setter Christina Guerrero had an honorable=20
mention.
Outside hitter Sam Holcombe was Golden =
Valley=E2=80=99s lone=20
representative as an honorable mention.
![3D"Morris](3D"http://media.morristechnology.com/mediafilesvr/adminmedia/img/bran= "3D\"Morris")
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