Cedarcrest volleyball off to flying start

Published 10:12 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Cedarcrest High volleyball team got its 1999 season off to a

flying start on Sept. 8, thoroughly whomping Chief Sealth by scores

of 15-1, 15-2 and 15-5. The non-league series marked the debut of this

year’s squad, led by coach Christine Stefani-Hillstead and assistants

Shannon Miller and Melissa Belisle.

The Wolves are anchored by eight seniors, including outside hitters

Katie Power (5’8″), Lauren Peterson

(5’7″), Rachael Barksdale (5’5″), and

Lacy Lawson (5’5″); right side player Heidi Vandanacker (5’7″); middle

blocker Erin Townsend (6’2″); and defensive specialists Crystal Merrick (5’3″)

and Julia Riera (5’4″). The juniors are Julie Henry (5’7″), Dorothy

Westermann (5’8″) and Melanie Klevberg

(5’11”), while the sole sophomore on the varsity team is Kara Lawson (5’10”).

Over the weekend, the Red Wolves took part in the Fife Jamboree at

Fife High School in the south Sound. According to coach Hillstead, 19

teams participated, including the host squad which was last year’s state

volleyball champion.

Cedarcrest played a total of six games during the jamboree,

downing Jackson 15-9 and White River 15-8 before falling to North Thurston,

10-15. They came back to beat Life Christian 15-13, fell to Fife 14-16, and

finished second overall by defeating North Thurston in their second

meeting, 15-13.

“It’s a tough tournament,” said Hillstead last Monday. “The

final seeding was Fife, North Thurston and Cedarcrest.”

The coach cited individual standout performances by Henry,

who had five kills (the ball hits the opposite team’s court without a return),

38 assists, six digs and two aces (no return); Townsend, 29 kills, eight

stuff blocks and four digs; Power, 11 kills, 22 digs, seven assists and four

aces; Lawson, six kills, five digs, one ace; Barksdale, 14 digs, one ace;

and Merrick, nine digs and four aces.

“Only six people were selected for the all-jamboree team, and we

had two,” Hillstead added. “They were Erin and Katie. Erin was the

all-Jamboree MVP.”

“They played great, had a great weekend, and it was a great way

to start the season.”

The Red Wolves visited the Wildcats at Mount Si Wednesday night

for early KingCo 3A bragging rights. This Saturday they host the first of

two Cedarcrest Tournaments for the season.