Kelsey Brooks is a student at Valley Christian and is a member of the AIA Student SID Program. 

The Trojan Volleyball team played Seton Catholic in the state finals matchup on Saturday, November 16th. The team came prepared to win knowing they had already beaten last year's defending champions, the Snowflake Lobos, in the Semifinals. Even though the Trojans had played and beaten Seton twice already in the regular season, they did not take the game lightly. They won in a three-set sweep to make a statement to all of 3A that Valley Christian Volleyball is the best in the state this year. The Trojans were able to dominate on the court the whole game, only calling one timeout in the match, and they kept their tempo and speed of play the same throughout the whole game. The scores of the finals match were 25-17, 25-14, 25-15, a decisive victory for the Trojans.  

The Trojans had many key players who helped make this state title possible. Senior Ellie Stuber and sophomore Sadie Wahlin both had 3 massive blocks. Senior setter Madi Brown-McAlpine had 20 assists and sophomore Ansley Venkatesh had 11 assists of her own. Junior Eliana Gregg had 19 digs to help her teammates, and to the crowd, she was one to watch with her impressive defensive skills. Freshman Lila Liimatta and sophomore Sydney Simon both had 7 kills to help finish some very important rallies during the game. The entire team had many scrappy plays leading to some long and well fought rallies.

Middle Ellie Stuber had a whopping 9 kills in this game. She really took charge, and even ended with the game winning kill. She shared, "Going into the game the only prayer I had was to at least be on the court when we won the state title, but God answered a lot more than that. I couldn't have asked for a better way to end the state game and my senior year than with a kill that was my signature move."  The team was so happy and proud that their hard work paid off in the end. It was a perfect way to end the season.

Head Coach Tyler Trathen had this to say about his team, "I'm very proud of this team and how they worked with one another to achieve this amazing goal. I am looking forward to continuing the excellence and the team culture we put in place this year into next year." Coach Trathen is already preparing for next season to become back-to-back State Champions.
Despite losing five seniors, the team will return a strong core who now have state championship experience, and they plan to step up to the challenge. The team is dedicated to excellence and getting another state title. Watch out for Trojan Volleyball next year and make sure to come out an support!

Go Trojans!