The 417 boys volleyball club started pretty green.

“I would say 95 percent of the boys we get have zero experience,” 417 boys volleyball director and coach Layne Louallen. “So they come in not knowing how to play not knowing their rotations, not even knowing how many people are on the court and then we go from there.”

“It was still competitive, but it was like, okay ‘this is how you pass’ and ‘this is how you set properly’,” said 18U volleyball player Garrett Yelvington. “It was nice having like the same level all across and then we could build together and have the same potential.”

That potential turned into a team who is now back to back national qualifiers.

“We are a winning club,” said 18U volleyball player Preston Harris. “It sounds really cocky to say that, but we we do win a lot. We go to Kansas City and Saint Louis and we play in these pretty large Midwest Regionals. Dennis Lafata tournaments with teams from all over the country and we would be able to compete. We got second at Dennis Lofata this year, which has teams from literally everywhere.”

They set the bar high from the get-go.

“Since the beginning of the season, they said no less than a final four appearance,” Louallan said. “They’ve held true. I mean, we’ve played in nine tournaments, they’ve made nine championships, so the 10th one, that’s the goal too.”

This 18U team elevated their skill sets and they are elevating the direction of 417 Boys Volleyball.

“Between their two years, they’ll finish around like 118 as a record,” Louallen said. “If you would have told me that five years ago, there’s no way I would have [believed it]. That may sound negative, but it’s so it’s just just been so surreal.”

The 18U team as well as the 16U team begins their AAU Nationals run in Orlando, FL on Monday, June 30.

Sophomore Nate Biron named league MVP after excelling for Pirates team that went undefeated against Mountain foes

After a season in which it finished the season 22-4, going undefeated in the Mountain League, and winning CIF Central Section Division II  before losing in the California state semifinals, the Santa Ynez Pirates boys volleyball team saw numerous members selected All-Mountain League by the coaches, SYHS volleyball coach Chip Fenenga announced recently.

Sophomore right-side hitter Nate Biron was named the Mountain League MVP. He led the Pirates with 343 kills, 54 aces, and was the top passer on the team. Biron finished, according to the Max Preps website, as the fifth-most efficient hitter in the United States.

“Nate could do it all and was such a hammer from the right side for us this year,” Fenenga said. “He is competitive, athletic, and able to play multiple positions.“

All-League first-team awards went to senior Ben Stuerman, senior setter Manny Sanchez and sophomore outside hitter sophomore Anders Dietenhofer.

“Manny was the setter for this team and performed at an elite level all season,” Fenenga said. “He had almost 900 assists this year and was a team leader and captain.”

Deitenhofer was especially efficient and powerful as a hitter with 266 kills, 42 aces, and 227 digs. “At the end of the season, no one was hitting at his level and range,” the coach said.

Ben Stuerman was the senior team captain and physically the most dominant player for the Pirates leading the team in blocks with 28, while adding 300 kills. “Ben was asked to move from his middle position to outside and teams had so much trouble matching up to his strength, his block and effective hitting,” Fenenga said. “He also was one of Max Preps top 50 in the nation.”

All-league second-team recognition went to middles Jadon Bailey and Wyatt Minus. Wyatt primarily was a blocking force, at the net matched up against opponents top middles. He hit efficiently and was second on the team with 22 solo stuff blocks. Bailey had 115 kills and 18 stuff blocks. “Both of these athletes were forces in the middle that opponents had to honor,” according to Fenenga.

Pirates defensive specialist libero Will Losson was also selected to the second team. He led the Pirates with 256 digs and was the most effective server for the Pirates including a key run at Arroyo Grande in the fifth set of a regular season match with the Pirates down 13-10. Losson served an ace and the next four points for the win. Losson also gave the Pirates a 14-10 lead in the fifth set of the teams’ CIF Central Section second-round game 5 win, after being tied at 10-10.

Honorable Mention went to senior Griffin Bruner. He had 229 serves along with 12 aces and 68 digs. “Griffin was a key part of our run as a talented athlete, returning to play volleyball his senior year,” Fenenga said. “His impact as a server and defensive specialist was vital to our success. He is fast, smart and aggressive. He had some remarkable digs that sparked us against league rivals San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande.”

For the third year in a row, Arizona can claim itself as the top college athletic program in the state.

Arizona won the Territorial Cup Series for the 2024-25, winning 14 out of 22 points over rival ASU. The 14-8 margin is the largest in the Territorial Cup Series since 2011-12, when Arizona took 12.5 points to ASU’s 5.5.

Dating back to the series’ founding in the 2009-10 academic year, Arizona has won 10 years while ASU has won six. Arizona has won five of the last six years.

Points are awarded to the winning school at the conclusion of 22 competitions, whether head-to-head or at conference or national championships.

This year Arizona won points in the following sports: women’s soccer, women’s triathlon, women’s gymnastics, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, women’s indoor track and field, softball, women’s tennis, baseball, men’s tennis, women’s golf, men’s outdoor track and field and women’s outdoor track and field.

ASU won in these sports: women’s volleyball, women’s cross country, football, women’s swimming and diving, men’s swimming and diving, men’s outdoor track and field, beach volleyball and men’s golf.

The Springville-Griffith girls outdoor track and field team wrapped up the spring season in the NYS Championships at Middletown on June 13 and 14, as the teams competed in Class C competition.

Abigail Hughes, Carlynn Heckathorn, Kirsten Melnik, Kendra Cook, Aubrie Staniszewski and Taylor Casey (front row) pose with S-GI coaches (back row) at Middletown this past weekend.

“Our girls had a great showing at the New York State Track and Field Championship meet. Kendra Cook, who is only a freshman, came in second place in Class C in the pentathlon.  She had a great performance and set a new personal best in this event,” S-GI girls track and field head coach Mark Heichberger said.

Section VI changed its format from last season from two section champions in each event for large and small schools to three section champions in each event between Classes A, B and C, and expanding the number of eligible participating for a state championship with three champions in each event as opposed to two.

The path to competing at States can be met by one of three ways: winning a sectional title, finishing second at sectionals if an at-large standard is met or hitting a super standard result at any point in the season at an invitational with five or more teams.

S-GI combined to compete in four events this past weekend at States with all capturing a top-10 or better finish. While three events were exclusively track events, the other, the pentathlon, was a combination of track and field events.

The Griffins were led by senior Kirsten Melnik, who finished with two top-five finishes and two school records in her last representation for Springville. Both records surpassed records she had previously set.

Melnik’s best finish came in the 1,500 run where she finished third. In that event, the four-time section champion finished with a 4:35.11 time, surpassing her previous record of 4:39.09 that she set just the previous weekend in the Section VI Championships at Falconer.

Melnik also finished fifth in the 3,000 run with a 9:58.90 time. It was at Middletown where she set the previous school record in 2023 with a time of 10:01.19.

“Kirsten Melnik had a great meet, an outstanding season, and an all-around amazing high school track and field career here at Springville. Kirsten had a third-place finish at the State Championship meet in the 1,500 and a fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter run. She broke her own school records in both events at the meet, and we could not be happier for her,” Heichberger said.

Kristen Melnik on the State podium after a fifth-place finish in the 3000 run.

Kendra Cook set a personal best while claiming a second-place finish in the pentathlon in Class C. The freshman netted 2,958 points through the five events. In the overall field (all classes), she finished as high as eighth and as low as 22nd spanning all five events. 

Her best individual event finish was in the long jump (16-feet-6.75) at eighth, followed by a ninth-place finish in the shot put (28-feet-6.25), a finish of 11th in the 100 hurdles (15.91), a 17th place finish in the 800 run (2:33.50) and tied 22nd in the high jump (4-feet-9).

Rounding out the Griffin performers was the 4X400 relay team of Abigail Hughes, Taylor Casey, Aubrie Staniszewski and Carlynn Heckathorn. The foursome finished 10th with a 4:13.57 time.

“Our relay team finished with their second-best time of the year and came in 10th place in the 4×400 among Class C schools. Aubrie Staniszewski ran the fastest split time and has been our top 400-meter runner this year. Taylor Casey has always been the heart and soul of our relay team and ran an amazing race once again. Abigail Hughes ran another very solid split time while Carlynn Heckathorn ran a season-best time for herself and did an admirable job filling in (for Kirsten Melnik), as she was our alternate originally,” Heichberger said.

The S-GI girls head track and field coach also shared his thoughts on the season.

“Our girls track and field team had another outstanding season. We were led by two amazing captains, Taylor Casey and Kirsten Melnik. They did such a great job in leading our team each and every day.”

“Our team was once again undefeated in our league season, and we were ECIC Division 4 champions. We finished in second place at the Class B meet and were able to send two individuals and a relay team to the New York State Championship Track and Field Meet. Kirsten Melnik was the small school Section VI Champion in the 1500-meter dash for the fourth consecutive year.”

“Along with all of the athletic accomplishments, we had 27 girls that were scholar athletes, with an average above a 90%. We are certainly going to miss all of our seniors. Kirsten, Taylor and Harleigh [Swanson] will continue their track career at the collegiate level next year and it will be fun to follow their progress.”

“We have a strong group of girls coming back next year and I believe we will have another great season. We have a great group of parents that support our team and help out at our track meets and we are very thankful to have them! Our coaching staff would also like to give a big thank you to the community, our administration and the board of education for supporting our program.”