Much to their surprise and delight, Cedarcrest senior volleyball

ace Catherine “Katy” Power and her coach, Christine Hillestad, have

been named to the Western Washington State All-State Volleyball Team.

The squad includes 3A and 2A-level players from multiple

schools and will square off against a similar squad from Eastern Washington

in three matches this summer.

Besides Power, four other players from the KingCo 3A Conference

– Newport’s Andrea Eshghi, Interlake’s Amy Comin and Tiare Alailima,

and Mercer Island’s Allison Campbell _ received first team

honors. Cedarcrest’s Erin Townsend was named to the second team while

Julie Henry received an honorable mention.

“My jaw pretty much dropped,” Power said upon receiving the

news. “I couldn’t believe it.”

A four-year player, Power started for the Red Wolf volleyball team

the last three seasons and was team captain over the last two seasons.

“I heard she was nominated,” said Coach Hillestad. “I wasn’t too

surprised she was named to the team. She worked really hard. All of the

other coaches remembered her and said she was the best defensive player

they’d seen.”

Power is the fourth Red Wolf in the history of the school to

achieve state all-star status in volleyball. The three previous players _ all who

date to when Cedarcrest was a 1A school – were Mary Chi, who went on to

star for Central Washington; Tanya Price, who subsequently attended

Western Washington; and Angie Short, who later played for the University

of Washington.

As for the coach, she will serve as coach of the Western

Washington squad along with Eatonville High School’s Lisa Wolfe.

“They said they wanted coaches who’d put their years in,”

Hillestad commented, “and I’ve only coached varsity one season. But they asked

me if I’d do it and I said yes.

“I was very surprised, but very happy.”

The Western and Eastern Washington squads will play three games

between July 12 and 15. The games are scheduled for Fife, Wenatchee

and Spokane.