Ms. Volleyball & All-State 2018

With an earlier spot on the calendar for the CIF state finals, we have matched it by moving up when the Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year is announced. And without further delay, congratulations to senior Natalie Berty from Mater Dei of Santa Ana. We also have a State Coach of the Year, first team all-state, second team all-state and have updated our Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year list back to 1975.

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Before saying bye, bye to Natalie Berty, the Mater Dei of Santa Ana girls volleyball team can now say hello to her as the 2018 Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year for a few months before she graduates.

Berty, the Stanford-bound outside hitter who was the Monarchs’ runaway leader in kills and led them to their first CIF state championship, has been selected today as the equivalent of MVP of the state by Cal-Hi Sports. The statewide honor extends back to 1975 and includes some of the greatest players in women’s volleyball history, including Kerri Walsh, Misty May, April Ross and Tara Cross.

This is the second straight year that a girl from an Orange County school has been named Ms. Volleyball for California. Berty follows last year’s winner Devon Chang of Santa Margarita (Rancho SM). But before that, there hadn’t been an OC honoree at the top of the state since Ross played at Newport Harbor of Newport Beach in 1999.

Last week, Berty became the eighth from Mater Dei to be selected as a CIF Southern Section divisional player of the year, including Sienna Secrest from last season. None of the others were later named Ms. Volleyball, which is mainly because none of the others led the Monarchs to a state title.

Berty got her senior season out to a great start in the first game with 28 kills in a match win vs. eventual CIFSS D1 semifinalist Sierra Canyon. She had two of her best outings in matches against nationally ranked Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) with 31 kills in September and then 22 when Mater Dei topped the Seahawks in the CIFSS D1 semifinals.

Since Mater Dei was more dominant in its CIF Open Division state title game match vs. Central of Fresno, Berty had nine kills. She finished with 532 for the season (second on the team had fewer than 300) and she also was second on the team in digs. For her career, Berty also had more than 1,300 kills.

Mater Dei’s final season record of 43-2 was good enough to put the team at No. 2 in the final Flo50 national rankings and No. 3 in others. The Monarchs were No. 1 in one computer ranking, but claiming a national title with a head-to-head loss to unbeaten Assumption of Louisville, Ky., wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

It did make sense to look at all of the players in the state this season and conclude that Natalie Berty can be the Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year.

CAL-HI SPORTS MS. VOLLEYBALL
STATE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
ALL-TIME LIST

2018 — Natalie Berty (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) Sr.
2017 — Devon Chang (Santa Margarita, Rancho SM) Sr.
2016 — Lexi Sun (Santa Fe Christian, Solana Beach) Sr.
2015 — Noreen Iosia (Redondo, Redondo Beach) Sr.
2014 — Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani (Redondo, Redondo Beach) Sr.
2013 — Taylor Nelson (Granite Bay) Sr.
2012 — Reily Buechler (Torrey Pines, San Diego) Sr.
2011 — Emily Sklar (Presentation, San Jose) Sr.
2010 — Krista Vansant (Redlands East Valley, Redlands) Sr.
2009 — Rachel Williams (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
2008 — Rachel Williams (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Jr.
2007 — Falyn Fonoimoana (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) Soph.
2006 — Alix Klineman (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) Sr.
2005 — Taylor Carico (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) Sr.
2004 — Cynthia Barboza (Wilson, Long Beach) Sr.
2003 — Stecha Selsky (Marymount, Los Angeles) Sr.
2002 — Jessica Gysin (St. Francis, Mountain View) Sr.
2001 — Lindsey Sherburne (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
2000 — Jennifer Saleaumua (Bonita Vista, Chula Vista) Sr.
1999 — April Ross (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach) Sr.
1998 — Jennifer Carey (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach) Sr.
1997 — Nikki Hartley (St. Francis, Mountain View) Sr.
1996 — Janae Henry (Centennial, Bakersfield) Sr.
1995 — Kerri Walsh (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
1994 — Misty May (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach) Sr.
1993 — Misty May (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach) Jr.
1992 — Tanisha Larkin (Long Beach Poly, Long Beach) Sr.
1991 — Zrinka Kristich (La Habra) Sr.
1990 — Missy Clements (La Habra) Sr.
1989 — Piper Hahn (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) Sr.
1988 — Bev Oden (Irvine) Sr.
1987 — Jenny Evans (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach) Sr.
1986 — Keba Phipps (Artesia, Lakewood) Sr.
1985 — Tara Cross (Southern California Christian, Anaheim) Sr.
1984 — Elaina Oden (Irvine) Sr.
1983 — Wendy Rush (Rim of the World, Lake Arrowhead) Sr.
1982 — Alisa Eischen (Marian Catholic, San Diego) Sr.
1981 — Kim Oden (Irvine) Sr.
1980 — Linda Vaughn (Fremont, Sunnyvale) Sr.
1979 — Necie Thompson (Gahr, Cerritos) Sr.
1978 — Cheryl Jo Johnson (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach) Sr.
1977 — Mary Motah (Santa Fe, Santa Fe Springs) Sr.
1976 — Chris Anderson (Laguna Beach) Sr.
1975 — Denise Corlett (Marlborough, Los Angeles) Sr.

2018 STATE COACH OF THE YEAR
Margi Beima (Sacred Heart Cathedral, San Francisco)
Berty and Beima has a nice ring to it, but that’s not any of the reasons that Beima is being honored today along with our Ms. Volleyball as the Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year. She happened to have perhaps her best team yet in the 17 years she’s been the head coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral, one that captured the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division title, earned the No. 1 seed for the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs and was in the top 10 of the state just about the entire season. Beima has been coaching at Sacred Heart Cathedral for 21 years and in her 17 years running the volleyball program has amassed more than 400 wins. Competing in the rough-and-tumble West Catholic Athletic League makes it hard for any coach to win that many games, especially with programs like Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) and St. Francis (Mountain View) but Beima always has her girls in the thick of the league standings. In her career, she now has two WCAL titles, seven CCS crowns, five NorCal titles and a 2014 CIF state title in D3 in 2014. Beima’s previous honors include 2010-11 CIF State Model Coach of the Year and 2010 Western Regional Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. If you read a story about how Beima worked with one of her players this season after that player suffered the death of her mother you would see another reason why she’s State Coach of the Year.

2018 ALL-STATE FIRST TEAM
(13 players; Listed in alphabetical order)
(Chosen with requirement of at least one libero and at least one middle blocker)

OH Natalie Berty (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-3 Sr.
Our 2018 Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year. Natalie also was just one of three California girls who are going to be playing in the Under Armour All-America Game on Dec. 14 in Minneapolis.

OH Madison Endsley (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) 6-3 Jr.
A transfer from Temecula Valley, Endsley missed the first few weeks of the season to get eligible and once she did the Dons took off. They beat Walton of Marietta, Ga., at tournament when that team was No. 1 in the nation. They weren’t able to dethrone Torrey Pines in the San Diego Section, but did get a win over the Falcons. Endsley, who at one point earlier in her career committed to Nebraska, led Cathedral Catholic with 491 kills this season.

S Emily Fitzner (Torrey Pines, San Diego)
6-1 Sr.
A first team All-San Diego Section choice as a junior, Emily was the top returnee for the Falcons and it was her play as a setter that was directly responsible for them not dropping at all from a top five state ranking from the year before despite the graduation of several others. Headed to the University of Indiana, Fitzner is another one of those from California in this year’s Under Armour All-American Game.

MB Elizabeth Fleming (St. Ignatius, San Francisco) 6-3 Sr.
Already named as the co-Player of the Year for the famed West Catholic Athletic League in the Bay Area, Fleming was a standout on both sides of the net for team that played in the title game the last two years of the CCS Open Division and went to the NorCal Open Division final in 2017. Fleming, who had 507 kills with 121 blocks in 42 games, will play next at Duke.

S Grace Frohling (Marymount, Los Angeles) 6-5 Sr.
That is not a typo. Grace is a setter with that kind of height and was one of two Sailors on the All-CIFSS D1 first team who also is now first team all-state (the other is outside hitter Devon Newberry). They had 10 losses, but obviously with a full strength lineup (Newberry had USA beach volleyball commitments) were one of the best in the nation, ending as runner-up to Mater Dei in both the CIF SoCal Open Division and CIFSS D1 playoffs. Frohling came to California as a freshman from Oklahoma (some call me Okie, she says on Twitter), but quickly adapted to the stronger competition. She has signed with the University of San Diego.

L Nalani Iosia (Redondo, Redondo Beach) 5-7 Jr.
The younger sister of 2015 Ms. Volleyball Noreen Iosia, Nalani was first team All-CIFSS D1 and has committed to Texas. With her and first team all-state Kami Miner back next season, the Seahawks will be one of the state and nation’s top-ranked preseason squads. When she committed to the Longhorns, Redondo head coach Tommy Chaffins said: “I think she has the best college serve in high school.”

OH Mikayla Lewis (Central, Fresno) 6-0 Sr.
As the four-year varsity leader for a team that won the CIF NorCal Open Division regional title and last year won the CIF Central Section crown, Lewis steps into the spotlight as a first team all-state choice. She led the Grizzlies with 462 kills and was second on the team in digs. Lewis also had 1,889 career kills and more than 1,400 career digs. She will play next at San Jose State.

S Kami Miner (Redondo, Redondo Beach) 5-11 Soph.
One of the highest regarded sophomores in the nation, Kami is the daughter of former NBA player Harold Miner. He’s from Inglewood and was once all-state by Cal-Hi Sports when he was in high school. Yes, we have been doing all-state teams that long and even longer. Kami was one of the youngest players on the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Training Team and was one of 12 who played for a U.S. team from Aug. 24 to Sept. 2 at the NORCECA U18 Continental Championships in Honduras. She missed a few games for the Seahawks at the time, but definitely played enough games for them and was certainly impressive enough in all of those matches to be first team all-state.

OH Devon Newberry (Marymount, Los Angeles) 5-10 Sr.
If these honors were based on who might be most likely to win an Olympic medal someday or on who was the most impactful player in any match she played, then Devon probably would be your pick. She missed a solid chunk of her team’s matches due to commitments for USA beach volleyball, but played when the Sailors won the Nike TOC in Arizona and had a huge output of kills in a CIFSS D1 semifinal win vs. Redondo. For her to have been Ms. Volleyball, however, she would have had to have led Marymount to one of the two titles that Mater Dei did win. Devon has earned a beach scholarship to UCLA.

L Macall Peed (Torrey Pines, San Diego) 5-8 Sr.
Another big-time talent for the San Diego Open Division champs, Peed has earned a scholarship to national power Penn State. Playing libero also is in her bloodlines since her brother Garland plays the position at UCLA. Peed had 398 digs for the Falcons, including 27 in a match against Santa Margarita at the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas. Torrey Pines’ only loss that weekend was to Mater Dei and Peed was named to the all-tourney team.

OH May Pertofsy (Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth) 6-2 Sr.
As a junior, she was selected as the L.A. Daily News Player of the Year after leading the Trailblazers to the CIF Division 2 state title. Pertofsky and the team were in a higher division this season, but reached the semifinals in the toughest playoff bracket in the nation. She has signed with Michigan and ends her career with 1,471 kills and 82 blocks.

S Mia Tuaniga (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
5-10 Jr.
She steps up from second team last season and did a lot more than just set for the Open Division state champions. In fact, Tuinaga was among Mater Dei’s kill leaders with 269 and had 660 assists. It’s just that in many of the biggest matches she was the one at the controls. Mia comes from a great volleyball family, which includes older brother Josh, an All-American at Long Beach State. She also has committed to play in college for the 49ers.

S Mikayla Weiss (Buchanan, Clovis) 5-10 Sr.
Both Buchanan and Central of Fresno reached the CIF NorCal Open Division finals so an effort was made to have one player from each of those teams on first team all-state. With Mikayla Lewis of Central getting a nod, Weiss is getting one too. She earns it as well for racking up an amazing 1,297 assists and more than 3,900 for her career. Weiss, who is headed to Fresno State, had 43 assists when the Bears topped Central in the CIF Central Section final. She had 35 when Central won in the NorCal Open final.

ALL-STATE SECOND TEAM
(18 players; Listed in alphabetical order)
(Chosen with requirement of at least two liberos, two middle blockers)

S Jordyn Amoy (Temecula Valley, Temecula) 5-8 Sr.
MB Kameron Bacon (Rancho Cucamonga) 6-3 Jr.
MB Grace Cannon (Foothill, Tustin) 6-0 Sr.
OH Julia Crawford (Lakewood) 5-10 Sr.
OH Ashley Dittmann (Buchanan, Clovis) 6-0 Sr.
OH Abbie Dayton (San Juan Hills, SJ Capistrano) 5-11 Sr.
OH Alexa Edwards (St. Francis, Sacramento) 5-11 Jr.
L Lauren Haniger (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) 5-5 Sr.
OH Kendall Kipp (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach) 6-4 Sr.
MB Kari Geissberger (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-5 Jr.
S Kendall Jensen (Village Christian, Sun Valley) 5-8 Jr.
OH Abby Karich (Los Alamitos) 6-0 Jr.
MB/RS Morgan Lewis (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad) 6-3 Sr.
L Mandalay Renon (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 5-3 Sr.
OH Lauren Sera (Sacred Heart Cathedral, S.F.) 5-9 Sr.
OH Taumafa Tuinauvai (James Logan, Union City) 5-10 Sr.
S/OPP Jen Trephan (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-2 Sr.
OH Peyton Wilhite (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) 6-4 Sr.

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports