Westlake Volleyball
By SOPHIA DIMICELI
On November 5, 2016 the Westlake Varsity Volleyball team took home the Class B Section 1 title for the first time since 2008.
In order to make it this far, the Westlake Wildcats had to beat every other team in the league.
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“I was so nervous to be back,” Junior Laine Peterson said, alluding to the team’s loss in section finals just two years earlier. “I knew everyone was going to have to work extremely hard to pull off this win.”
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This especially tight-knit group of girls proved that putting your heart into a sport and a team really pays off. Senior Captain Kelly Martin says that the feeling of winning was “indescribable. It was probably the most rewarding moment of [my] entire life so far.”
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The team, of course, could not have made it as far as they did without the help of their amazing coach, Carmen Bates, who was awarded the Conference 3 Coach of the Year.
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Coach Bates wasn’t the only Wildcat recognized though: Senior Kelli Kinlen was given an All Conference Honorable Mention; Sophomore Sydney Roell was awarded All Section; and Senior Captains Caleigh Carr and Kelly Martin were awarded All State.
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The Westlake Varsity Volleyball team’s 2017 season was one like no other. Overall, the Westlake Volleyball team had an amazing season and they hope to be back at the section finals next fall to defend their title!