The 24-0 West Yosemite League champions, Redwood’s varsity volleyball has had an undeniable successful and outstanding season so far. As their regular season came to an end last Thursday, October 21, playoffs begin today, Thursday, October 28.
Among this spectacular group of girls, four key players- Elise and Audrey Hyde, and Morgan and Devyn Castaneda are the two sets of sisters on the team. In addition, the Hyde’s mother, Stacy Hyde is also the assistant coach.
Audrey Hyde, ’24 and Devyn Castaneda, ’24 have been playing volleyball together since the sixth grade. They played competitively for a Tulare club team, “Sequoia Crush” for two years (sixth and seventh grade.) It was the second year when Morgan Castaneda, ’23 started playing along with them.
Audrey began her volleyball career in the third grade. She played for Visalia’s City League up until her sixth grade year. Her sixth grade year, she began to play for “Elite Beach Indoor” club. She’s still on the team today.
For her seventh and eighth grade years, she played for the Green Acres Middle School team along with Devyn. Her eighth grade year, she was awarded “Best All Around Player.”
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
For her eighth grade year, she then played for “SoCal” club located in Tulare. And now, her sophomore year, she plans to play for “Valley Volleyball Academy” (VVA) located in Fresno. She still plays for “Elite Beach” during her summers.
She’s played for the “Elite Beach Indoor” club for one year during COVID-19, but the beach program for three summers now.
“Elite Beach” provides Audrey and her doubles partner, Devyn the opportunity to travel and play beach volleyball.
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
Having the unique chance to play with Devyn for Redwood and her club team, Audrey has grown her friendship with her. She says, “She [Devyn] is really motivating and she won’t get frustrated with you, she’ll help you through it.”
She adds, “We know each other, we know how each other play, so if there’s a ball where either of us can get it, without even having to call it, we both know in the back of our heads who it’s going to.”
Due to COVID-19, Audrey was unable to play for Redwood her freshman year, but only conditioned. This year, her sophomore year, is her first official year.
Throughout this season, she has been nominated a total of three times for the Fresno Bee “Athlete of the Week,” as well as nominated once for the Visalia Times Delta “Athlete of the Week.”
She was also highlighted in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Notebook as one of the top left-handed hitters in the state of California.
For the 2021 season so far, Audrey placed fourth in the top hitting percentages of the California West Yosemite League (WYL) high school volleyball players with a percentage of .261 in the standings.
She placed sixth in the top kills percentages for WYL with a total of 127 kills so far.
She placed third in the number of assists for WYL with a total of 294 so far as a setter.
She also placed third in the number of aces for WYL with a total of 43 so far.
She again, placed third in the number of blocks with a total of 29.
And lastly, placed seventh in the number of digs with a total of 143.
With this being Audrey’s first year playing for Redwood volleyball, let alone varsity, Audrey says, “Growing up, I’ve always been scared of older kids, having them on my team, it makes me realize that we’re all the same.”
In regards to her play time and being one of the starters, Audrey says, “I’m proud of myself and how much I’ve grown, and I’m really happy with my position.”
Throughout the eight years head coach, Alana Montgomery has been coaching at Redwood, she has only had one pair of sisters on her team. Now having two, Montgomery does her best to treat them each as individual players.
“Each player has contributed to this season in different ways with no role being more important than any other,” says Montgomery.
Playing with her older sister is bitter-sweet for Audrey. As expected, the sister competition is inevitable and very real.
As a setter and one of the leaders on the team, Audrey says, “it’s kind of growing my confidence to be more of a leader on the court, but sometimes I don’t like it after games,” she jokes implying arguments her and her sister sometimes have.
Despite the tough moments her and Elise may have, Audrey says, “We have a connection… and it’s really fun to celebrate with each other,” when she sets her, and Elise succeeds with a kill.
“Elise is dependable. I know if our team is struggling in hitting, I know that if I give Elise a good enough set, that she can put a ball down.”
Audrey Hyde, ’24
Something Audrey appreciates when playing with her sister is the fact that they can communicate with each other to improve outside of the court. She says, “being able to talk with each other judgement-free.”
Older sister, Elise Hyde, ’22 has been playing volleyball also since the third grade. Similar to Audrey, she also played for Visalia’s City League up until sixth grade. Her freshman year, she played for Redwood’s frosh/soph team and received the “Bleeds Blue” award.
It was her sophomore year when she made varsity and now, senior year, she is one of the team captains.
Elise is currently fifth in WYL with a top kill number of 142.
She is second in WYL with a top hitting percentage of .368.
And, she is first in WYL and seventh in the valley for total number of blocks, hers being 63.
Playing with her younger sister, Elise says, “It’s just a fun experience to play with your sister, and I love it because we build our connections and relationships with each other.”
On the drives to their matches, the Hydes have very different mental preparation techniques which can affect their regular routines. According to Elise, she likes to blast music and scream lyrics to prepare, whereas Audrey likes complete silence. That’s something they’ve gotten used to and have learned to accept.
Because they’re sisters, the Hydes feel free to tell each other what they need on the court without the fear of hurting each other’s feelings.
“Audrey, Devyn, and Morgan have been playing together for a long time, so for me being in the mix now is cool. It has that sister factor, and I can see where I am play-level wise with them.”
Elise Hyde, ’22
Playing with another set of sisters, Audrey has a sentimental and unique kind of connection with the Castanedas that’s different than with any other player on the team. She says, “I’ve been around the Castanedas a lot, so I notice sometimes when they’re upset with each other… but it doesn’t affect me or the rest of the team. We know that we’re family, and sometimes that’s what happens.”
Devyn Castaneda, ’24 began her volleyball career in fifth grade. In addition to the teams already mentioned she’s played for with Audrey, she will also be joining her in playing for VVA.
Spending a lot of her life playing volleyball with Audrey, Devyn says, “It’s honestly amazing. We spend a lot of time together and she’s my best friend. She’s a very great player.”
Playing Redwood volleyball with her older sister has been very convenient, according to Devyn. She says, “We both understand one another and get to discuss matters at home.”
Similar to Audrey, Devyn is also a starter and plays the majority of every game. This also being her first official year playing for Redwood, Devyn says, “I love to represent and show how good our team is… I am honored to be on the varsity.”
Her seventh grade year playing for Green Acres Middle School, Devyn was awarded the “Most Valuable Player” award and her eighth grade year, the “Best Offensive Player” award.
She placed sixth in WYL for the top number of aces with a total of 33.
She also placed first in WYL for the top number of digs with a total of 309.
Honorable mention is that she was invited and played in a national beach volleyball training located in Florida this past summer.
Her older sister, Morgan was invited to the same national training for beach volleyball, but it will take place in Manhattan Beach this coming winter.
For Devyn and Audrey’s “Elite Beach” volleyball club team, they won every tournament they played in for the 2020 summer. Some including two Clovis grass tournaments which took place in the 18’s division and a sand tournament in Santa Monica in a 16’s age group.
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
Audrey had also won a co-ed grass doubles in a 18’s division tournament with another partner.
Devyn and Audrey also won a Spring Break sand tournament in the 18’s division which took place in Madera, California. They had actually beat Morgan and her partner in the championship.
Older sister, Morgan Castaneda, ’23 began her volleyball career around the age of 12. She played two seasons of Visalia’s City League. And then three seasons of the “Sequoia Crush” club team, two of those being on the same team as Devyn and Audrey.
During the 2020-2021 summers, she played two seasons for the “Elite Beach” club team along with her sister and Audrey. And then one year of the “Elite Beach Indoor” team.
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
Like both Audrey and Devyn, Morgan will also begin playing for VVA coached by the Fresno State’s volleyball head coach.
Playing with her younger sister on the Redwood team, Morgan finds it easy as they, “know each other, and know how [they] work, and know [their] jobs on the court,” she says.
Morgan has been nominated for “Athlete of the Week” for the Fresno Bee a total of three to four times.
For the 2021 season so far, Morgan placed third in the top hitting percentages of the California West Yosemite League (WYL) high school volleyball players with a percentage of .330 in the standings.
She placed second in WYL for top number of kills with a total of 223.
She placed second in top number of aces in WYL with a total of 59.
And, she placed fifth in WYL for top number of digs with a total of 150.
Playing with the Hydes is a delight for Morgan. She says, “I love them both forever and it was and always has been so much fun.”
She adds, “I don’t really think about defining them as just another pair of sisters, and I even forget sometimes, too.”
As her and Devyn have one more year to play together before she graduates, Morgan says, “we’ll really just keep improving,” when looking towards the future.
She adds, “We always have been constantly getting better by playing either with each other or against each other and it’s fun every time.”
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
When finding out they were playing Central Valley Christian (CVC) from Seed 3 in Division 1 for their first playoff game, head coach Montgomery said, “I was surprised, but ready to take on the challenge. The girls will be ready, the coaches will be ready, and we will play to the best of our ability.”
In regards to the highly anticipated match, assistant coach Stacy says, “We’re looking forward to it. We’re excited about having this competitive match and we have a history with CVC, so there’s a lot going into having years of rivalry with them.”
Mother to the Hydes, this is Stacy’s first year as the official varsity assistant coach. She was a volunteer and helped out with the team in 2018 and 2019.
In addition to this being Stacy’s first year officially being a coach, she’s coaching both of her daughters. She says, “I love it. It’s super exciting and rewarding.” However, this is not the first time she’s coached them, she has coached them when they were younger playing City League.
“It’s so special to having played at Redwood to now be coaching, and having my girls [Elise and Audrey], it’s kind of like carrying on this legacy. I just love being a part of Redwood athletics in this way.”
Varsity assistant coach and mother to Hydes, Stacy Hyde
Stacy adds, “To be doing it at high school and also at the high school I played at [Redwood], is really special and something that I hoped would happen.”
Back in 1991, Stacy Hyde was also a student at Redwood. Not only this, but she was quite the star volleyball player. She won WYL her senior year and was pronounced “Most Valuable Player” for both her team, and for the West Yosemite League.
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
Being both their mother and coach is not easy, it takes balance. Stacy says, “Because we ride home together, and analyze the game, I make sure to be supportive as their mom after the game first, and not always just coaching to what could be better.”
Having the opportunity to be coached by her mother, Elise says, “It’s really sweet to have another special connection with my mom and my sister, spending extra family time together in a different outlet.”
Photo courtesy of Stacy Hyde
“I’m very impressed with both sets of sisters. They’re both very respectful and supportive of each other. It definitely adds to the team dynamics.”
Varsity assistant coach and mother to Hydes, Stacy Hyde
Elise adds, “We can come to our mom for any concerns that we have and especially because she knows the game better than I know the game, she’s able to answer my questions right away.”
Being familiar with the Castaneda sisters as they have played with Audrey from a very young age, Stacy has grown a certain significant relationship with them. She says, “I have super high expectations of them because I know what kind of athletes they are.”
Transitioning from being the side-line mom watching them play on club teams together, Stacy is now their coach. She says, “I know how great of players and their potential is, so as a coach… I like to celebrate them and push them to their best.”
These four key and outstanding players have had a significant part in taking the varsity team to playoffs. Audrey and the Castanedas plan to continue their careers in college, whereas Elise is already committed to Westmont College to pursue her soccer career, but still hopes to play volleyball elsewhere.
To support and watch these spectacular girls in action, they face Central Valley Christian (CVC) tonight, the 28 at 6 pm in the CVC gym for their first playoff game. Pre-order your tickets by clicking this button:
Tickets will not be sold at the door.
Tags: Audrey Hyde, beach volleyball, Devyn Castaneda, Elise Hyde, features, girls volleyball, Morgan Castaneda, playoffs, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, redwood sports, Redwood volleyball, sisters, sydneybrammer, undefeated, varsity, varsity volleyball, varsitygirls, volleyball
