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1/15/2009
Blazers, Slicers Well Represented
Reprinted with permission from The News Dispatch
Zack Eldridge
The News-Dispatch
Two area volleyball teams played above the rest this past season.
So it's no wonder those two squads filled up the 2008 The News-Dispatch All-Area volleyball teams.
Marquette claimed its fifth straight state title with a 36-4 season. La Porte finished just shy of 30 wins, going 29-8 before falling in the regional semifinals to eventual regional champion Elkhart Memorial.
Marquette and La Porte each had four girls selected to the all-area team, followed by three from New Prairie, Chesterton and Westville, two from South Central and Michigan City and one from La Crosse.
Player of the Year Ashley Edmond of Marquette headlines the first team. She is joined by two of her Blazers teammates, Brianna Gannon and Amber Cerrillos.
Edmond, Gannon and Cerrillos formed a formidable trio on the court, guiding Marquette to its eighth state crown in the past 10 years.
Edmond had 542 kills this past season, to go along with 417 digs and 97 aces. Gannon recorded 267 kills, 362 digs and 103 aces, while Cerrillos posted 1,021 assists, 215 aces and 212 digs.
La Porte's talented duo of sophomore Kim Trojan and junior Ariel Cudney were named to the team as well.
Trojan registered 411 kills, 303 digs and 61 aces, and Cudney notched 261 kills, 315 digs and 142 aces. Trojan was among the state leaders in kills, while Cudney was among the state leaders in aces.
Rounding out the first team was Chesterton's Morgan Palombizio.
Palombizio, who's bound for Eastern Illinois next fall to play basketball, had 278 kills, 364 assists, 37 aces, 24 digs and 66 blocks on her way to being named the team's most valuable player.
Headlining the second team is the New Prairie tandem of Margaux Jarka and Alicia Carlton. They led the Cougars to a 19-12 mark this season, including 7-0 in the NSC.
Jarka was one of the most productive players in the state, finishing third in the state in kills with 435, according to IHSAA.org. In one of New Prairie's Northern State Conference matches this season, she averaged more than nine kills a game. Carlton tallied 232 kills and 381 digs.
Chesterton had a pair of girls make the second team - MaryBeth Ryan and Emily Mozwecz.
Ryan, a senior middle hitter, had 285 kills, 81 blocks, 36 aces, 101 digs and a solid .443 hitting percentage. Mozwecz, a senior outside hitter, had 237 kills, 314 digs, 29 aces and 22 blocks.
La Porte's Hannah Hunnicutt and Marquette's Katie Clancy round out the second team.
Hunnicut had 1,001 assists, 108 digs and 44 assists this season, making her one of the best setters in the region. Clancy had a well-rounded season with 176 digs, 145 kills and 67 blocks heading into the state finals.
The honorable mention squad consisted of Michigan City's Lydia Kohler, Bekah Puckett, La Porte's Megan Walls, New Prairie's Ashley Granat, Marquette Jenna Fumo, South Central's Stephanie Balon and Aimee Hanna, Westville's Amy Wozniak, Val Lower and Brandy Bogart, and La Crosse's Meagan Elliott.
The News-Dispatch's Nick Dettmann contributed to this report.
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