Nov. 10—EAST GRAND FORKS — The East Grand Forks Senior High volleyball program is in new territory.
For starters, Senior High volleyball coach Paula Devine is in her 32nd season as head coach of the Green Wave. She’ll be taking her team to the Minnesota Class AA state tournament in St. Paul for the first time this weekend.
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In addition, junior hitter Lanee Hams has been honored as an all-state selection — the first East Grand Forks player to achieve that status in 53 years of Green Wave volleyball.
East Grand Forks will try to keep breaking new ground on Thursday when the No. 8 seed Green Wave (22-10) meet No. 1 New Life Academy of Woodbury (26-1) in the state quarterfinals at 1 p.m. in St. Paul at Grand Casino Arena, formerly known as the Xcel Energy Center.
Devine, who has had two stints as head coach of the Wave dating back to 1987, has been to four section championships before breaking through last Saturday. She said this year’s group is taller with better jumping ability than previous teams.
“A lot of it is we’re very athletic,” Devine said.
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Hams has made the transition from beginner to all-state player. Previously a soccer player, Hams started playing volleyball in high school.
“When she started in ninth grade, she didn’t have a clue what to do,” Devine said.
Hams has 368 kills this season. Her 145 total blocks are the most of anyone in Minnesota whose team enters statistics into the MaxPreps website. Nationally, she ranks No. 66 on MaxPreps.
“Timing and instincts,” Devine said of Hams’ blocking prowess. “Against Thief River Falls (in the section semifinals), she had a play where she blocked three times. She blocked left, then again and then moved over and put it down. Most people don’t get up and down that fast. It’s pretty natural for her.”
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In addition to Hams, fellow junior Sydney McDonald has 260 kills while senior Brooke Hecht has 123 and senior CoCo Williams has 117. Freshman Camille Julien, who spent two-thirds of the season playing junior varsity, has 105 kills on the year as she’s emerged during the postseason run.
“(Julien) is a 5-8 kid, but she jumps well,” Devine said. “People think she’s not that tall, then she jumps … she keeps going and you don’t.”
Defensively, the Wave are led by Kelsey Spilde, who has 534 digs and a team-high 42 service aces. East Grand Forks’ setting has been handled by senior Hayden Berg, who has 836 assists and 24 aces.
The Wave carry the No. 8 seed but take some confidence into state with northwest Minnesota’s recent success at the state tournament. Hawley is the two-time defending AA state champions.
“There’s good volleyball in the north country in Section 8,” Devine said.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
