A Closer Look Into Volleyball’s Senior Night

By: Krissy Hetherington

On Tuesday, Redwood Volleyball hosted their Senior Night against El Diamante High School where they came out with a win to outright capture the WYL Championship.

Here’s a look at the five graduating players:

Abby Billingsley, ’20, has been playing volleyball since she was in second grade. She has played volleyball for Redwood all four years and her two last years on Varsity. “Always stay humble and push through no matter what happens,” is the biggest lesson Billingsley received as a part of Redwood’s volleyball program.

Her favorite memories included “beating CVC and the student section at their first round game at El Diamante.” She plans to play for COS next year and move on to a four year university to study business.

Rikki Gonzalez, ’20, started playing volleyball since sixth grade and has played defensive specialist all four years at Redwood. Her favorite memories include “team dinners were a lot of fun and great team bonding, whenever the coaches let us play music during practice and winning our three tournaments this year.” She plans to attend San Diego State for the 4 year nursing bachelor program.

“Senior night marked the end of a four year journey in the RHS volleyball program. One of the first ends tied of many this senior year. Congrats to all the senior volleyball players for staying dedicated in their four years & congrats to rhs varsity for being undefeated WYL champs!” adds Gonzalez.

Malia Presidendorf, ’20, has been playing volleyball since she was eight years old and has been playing for nine years. She has played three of her four years on varsity as a right side hitter. “A huge takeaway I learned…is that you are never alone even when you feel like it. When my mom passed [last year], I felt lost and alone but my team, the whole program, and other teams in the league took care of me…to me that’s something really beautiful that a sport can connect people together and bring so much thoughtfulness to a person’s life.”

Her favorite memories include “Mia went to get a basketball, her and the ball both got stuck in the team room’s wrestling mats and also her sophomore year when Katie Salazar made a team rap before every game.” She is undecided for college but plans to go to a four year for biochemistry to be a pediatrician.

“Our seniors bring knowledge, experience, dedication and leadership which are the same characteristics that we will miss when they are gone.  They also bring a lot of fun to the everyday grind of workouts, games and traveling.”

Head Coach Alana Montgomery

Karey Rodriguez, ’20, has played since fifth grade and spent two years on varsity as a setter and defensive specialist, “Throughout the past four years, I’ve learned a lot about teamwork and camaraderie on the team…and to be dedicated and hard working…will really go a long way.”

Some of her favorite memories about the team at Redwood include, “meeting my best friend Andrea and convincing the whole team we were related, the countless times I’ve been hit in the face by a ball, and winning all three tournaments this season.” She plans to go to COS for two years then transfer to a four year to major in child developmental psychology.

Maddy Tamayo, ’20, has played volleyball for nine years and spent 3 out of four years on varsity as an outside hitter. She was recently nominated by Visalia Times Delta for Player of the Week for her performance against Hanford last week. “The Redwood program has always felt like a family, Everyone cares about each other. Alana always tells us to be humble and work hard. I think that’s the biggest thing I took away from the program. All the girls worked hard for where we are at this season,” said Tamayo.

Her favorite memories include, “winning WYL sophomore year, on the way to state game, the bus driver ran into a tree twice, and when Abby sang the national anthem at the Hanford game.” After graduating, Tamayo will continue her volleyball career at Cal State Monterey Bay and start a career in firefighting.