It's hard to figure whether it was a new coach that got Valley Christian HS over the hump this year, or whether the Trojans were just waiting for
Chanel Brown to get to her senior year.
Brown (shown here holding the trophy in this school photo), is a 5'10"senior outside hitter who led Valley Christian to a 34-win season and its first 2A state title in eight years, which also earned her the prestigious honor of being named
Small Schools Player of the Year (second consecutive), as selected by the Arizona Republic sports writers. The Trojans were runners-up to the title for the past three years, but head coach Molly Stark, who came over from Cactus Shadows HS this year where she was Region Coach of the Year, got the girls over what was becoming a psychological hurdle.
Stephanie Preach, setter for Xavier Prep, was the
Big Schools Player of the Year (also a second time), also leading her squad to a 39-6 record and the 5A state title before heading off next year to Arizona State University to play for the Sun Devils.
Both were part of the 2009 All Arizona team that also included
Madison Kingdon, a junior outside hitter from Sunnsyslope HS;
Betsi Metter, senior outside hitter from Desert Vista HS;
Katie Rutherford, senior setter from Sunrise Mountain HS; and the sophomore sensation from Seton Catholic HS, 6'4" outside hitter
Haley Lawless, who has led Seton to a 4A-II state title in each of her years there.
(click here for the full article)
Read More
PHXFan is the leading sports blog for Arizona High School and College sports. It is the next generation of SportZine Magazine, which hit high school campuses throughout the Valley in 2003. More About PHXFan...
Arizona Sports (AZCentral)