By: Krissy Hetherington
Redwood’s Athletic program is thriving right now. The football team is 5-0 for the first time since 2016 when they went on to accomplish a 9-1 record. Girls Tennis is going into their 16th year without a single loss. Girls Golf is living up to their Valley Championship season last year.
But a key standout is Redwood’s Volleyball team. This year already, the girls brought home 3 tournament championships, big wins against schools like CVC, Madera South, El Diamante, and are currently 31-0 and 4-0 in league.
Last season, the girls went 26-11, 6-4, got as far as Semi-finals, and fell to Exeter who went on to win the 2018 DII Valley title. In previous years, the best record they have since the start of MaxPreps, was in 2017, 30-8. They’ve already passed this with 6 more regular season games to go.
So what’s the big difference this year? What changed?
Senior leadership
Over the summer, Maddy Tamayo, ’20, 3 year varsity player, Senior captain, committed to Cal State Monterey Bay to play volleyball at the DII collegiate level, “I went there and just fell in love with the team and coaching staff, it was a mutual want, I felt like I wanted to play there just a much as they wanted me so that was really important in picking where wanted to go.”
Tamayo leads the team in kills with 358 total and a .368 hitting percentage. She has the top spot on MaxPreps for kills. Along with kills she also holds top spot for aces with 40 total.
She’s been really challenged to step up by having such a young team this year, “It’s shown me that I can be a leader and I can help people in general in their success in sports also.” Another key factor to being this successful would be the emphasis on team building and cooperation to create the best chemistry within the team as possible and eliminating all drama. Along with this, Tamayo agreed being friends outside of the gym and court has really helped as well.
Malia Preisendorf, ’20, 3 year varsity member and Senior captain, is another solid component to the team’s success, “I’m definitely sad with this being my last year. Our volleyball program has been a big part of my life these past four years and they have helped me with a lot and it’s bitter sweet to be a senior on the team.”
On Wednesday, September 25th, for both the girls, this was theirs, along with the 5 other seniors’, last time playing at El Diamante. Both sides of the stands were packed as the Miners challenged their strong record but were still unable to snap it. The win was big for the Rangers as they secured it in the 4th set. Preisendorf said on behalf of the victory, “We knew El D would be one of the biggest teams we play this year and have been preparing to battle hard and pulling off the win meant a lot to us because our hard work paid off.”
Another final honorable mention, Mia Gilcrest, ’21, the remaining varsity captain, has really helped the team since her freshmen year. This year alone though she has made a name for herself. With a .436 hit percentage, she also totals 341 kills and 33 serve aces, and she still has another season after this!
Young talent
This year, the team is made up of 4 sophomores that really glue together the team as well as 2 juniors who started on varsity last year.
Elise Hyde, ’22, played on JV last year as her first playing volleyball outside of just city league but she was always primarily focused on Cross Country. She impressed so much that she was moved up to varsity this year but was challenged to play a new spot than last year, “I am honored to know that people notice my hard work and the ability to learn in order to get better…I get to meet new faces, learn from upperclassmen and share amazing memories with people who love to play volleyball and make it into a very fun and exciting sport.” She believes their success has come from the team’s ability to bond as a family and the encouragement every single player provides.
Kylie Cekalski, ’22, first year varsity member and starting middle blocker, has already totaled 47 blocks this season. In MaxPreps, this reigns on top in DII. She said on behalf of her young age, ” I feel like this has benefited me because it gives me new opportunities to better myself in the sport…this benefits the team because everyone’s challenging each other by our different skills and by this we improve faster than other teams.”
Starting libero as a sophomore last year and again this year, Andrea Jauregui, ’21, said by being on varsity last year, “it has helped me to be more confident and relaxed playing because I know how the game works and how to handle being under pressure.”
Dedicated coach
Head coach, Alana Montgomery has been at Redwood for 8 seasons but this year particular stands out, “This year’s team is a good combination of both experienced varsity players and young newcomers. Our Captains and Seniors have been good role models and examples to help the team grow. The younger girls have been eager and receptive to learning from them.”
The key to this year’s perfect record, in her opinion, have been skillful players, a good work ethic, determination and commitment.
Being with most of the seniors for multiple years, she said on behalf of the 7 graduating players, “Our Seniors are giving everything they can to make this year one that they will always remember. There is a huge amount of pressure right now to try to hold our win streak and they are the ones feeling the most pressure. When they are done and graduated I hope that they can look back fondly on this season knowing that they did their best and know that they will be missed.”
Tamayo said on behalf of coach Montgomery, “She has been there for us on and off the court which has really helped us to trust her, she constantly challenges us even when we may not want to practice, we appreciate and respect her coaching opinion which helps us just grow as a team.”
Team goals
Going into the season, the team wrote four goals on their team room’s whiteboard, “Win Redwood Invite (check), Beat El Diamante (check), Win League, Get ringed.”
“We have a lot of goals this season, one of them was to win the tournament that we hosted, and we accomplished that by really coming together and pushing each other to be the best that we know we could be,” said Preisendorf.
On behalf of success at this point of the season, Cekalski said, “staying humble for each game and maintaining our skills. Our coach tells us this everyday which helps us win because we can always find ways to improve before each match.”
Jauregui said, summer had the biggest impact on the success of the program so far, “We have created strong bonds which has helped us trust each other during the game, we hold each other accountable because we know each other’s potential.”
Redwood will be hosting their next game against Mt. Whitney on Tuesday, October 1st at 6:30. Support the Lady Rangers as they chase a league championship and keep the streak alive!!