Two of those honored as first team all-state for the 2019 season are Skylar Canaday from Sacred Heart Cathedral of SF (left) & Megan Kraft from Torrey Pines of San Diego. Two of Kraft’s teammates also made it onto the highest squad. Photos: Husani Spann / SportStars & Ken Grosse / ranchosantafereview.com.
Just like for other sports in which we’ve done all-state teams for many years, the final in a series of posts and announcements is saved for the large schools, open division schools and for all classes combined. There was a big five in girls volleyball this season in California and all five of those teams — Torrey Pines, Redondo, Mater Dei, Marymount and Cathedral Catholic — are all heavily represented on these teams (and for the already released underclass squads).
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RELATED: All-State Juniors, Sophs & Frosh | All-State Medium & Small Schools | Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year & State Coach of Year
One way to show support for us to continue to do expanded all-state teams for girls volleyball is to order a commemorative all-state patch through our partners at BillyTees.com (also the official merchandise partner with the CIF for many years). For more on these all-state patches (that also comes with a certificate), CLICK HERE.
(Note: All of these all-state accolades are based on accomplishments for high school teams, not club teams. College commitments and college signings were considered, however.)
ALL-STATE FIRST TEAM
(All listed alphabetically; 16 players)
(Any player from any school could theoretically have been selected)
MB Meg Brown (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-2 Sr.
A powerhouse in the middle who has had an outstanding all-around career for the Monarchs, Brown is a repeater as an all-state player. Last year, the honor came after she helped Mater Dei win the CIF Open Division state title. The Monarchs didn’t repeat, but they avenged a loss to Redondo in the CIF Southern Section D1 final by beating the Sea Hawks in the SoCal Open Division before they lost in the regional finals at Torrey Pines. Brown, who committed at first to Alabama (older brother Tommy Brown, an all-state football player, went there), has since switched to Pepperdine. In her senior year for the Monarchs, she had 313 kills and 88 blocks.
OH Skylar Canaday (Sacred Heart Cathedral, San Francisco) 6-1 Sr.
When you’re the player of the year in the West Catholic Athletic League (which has won more CIF state titles as a league by a wide margin over any other in the state), that’s maybe not an automatic qualifier to be all-state but it’s close. Skylar also has the added punch of being a UCLA recruit. She had 20 kills in the match against Palo Alto that earned Irish head coach Margi Beima her 500th win and had several other dominant outings. For the season, Canaday racked up 445 kills and hit at a 42.5 percent clip for a team that won the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division title before losing to Bishop O’Dowd in the NorCal Open Division playoffs.
Alexa Edwards has been one of the top players in the Sac-Joaquin Section for the last three years. Photo: James K. Leash / SportStars.
S Karly Diehl (Torrey Pines, San Diego)
5-11 Sr.
Already named as the Ms. Volleyball State Player of the Year and the CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year, Diehl was dealing out assists at a dizzying pace and directing the attack of the CIF Open Division state champs. She also is one of the top scholar-athletes in the state and will attend Yale University of the Ivy League.
OH Alexa Edwards (St. Francis, Sacramento) 5-11 Sr.
The Sacramento Bee’s Metro Player of the Year and two-time Delta League MVP adds first team all-state honor to her resume. Edwards has actually been the leading player in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section the past two seasons and helped spark this year’s team at St. Francis to the D1 section title and a national ranking due to the Troubadours not taking a loss until very late in the season. Edwards, who has signed with the University of Pacific in Stockton (her mother, Cathy Lumb Edwards, played on UOP’s 1986 national title team), had a whopping 2,083 career kills and led her league in kills for all four of her high school seasons. She also finished with 1,577 career digs.
OH Madison Endsley (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) 6-3 Sr.
A top 25 national recruit according to PrepVolleyball.com, Endsley probably would have been the San Diego Section player of the year had her team and not Torrey Pines had won the section crown. She transferred to Cathedral Catholic after starting her career at Temecula Valley (Temecula) and led the Dons to a Durango Fall Classic title as a senior this season plus a Nike TOC title as a junior last season. It also was hard not to notice that she is a three-time All-Tournament choice at junior nationals (club). Endsley will play next at the University of Washington.
OH Kari Geissberger (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-6 Sr.
There was one big reason that the Wildcats won their first CIF NorCal Open Division title and that was having Kari at the net. She’s been ranked as high as the top five for California’s leading recruits from this year’s senior class and she clearly had a great season. Geissberger had 404 kills, 179 digs, 54 blocks and 19 assists in her senior year. She will play next at Loyola Marymount.
L Nalani Iosia (Redondo, Redondo Beach) 5-8 Sr.
Regarded by many as the top libero in the nation, Iosia shared the CIF Southern Section D1 player of the year honor with junior teammate Kami Miner. Her serving also became legendary and this year alone she had 165 aces. Iosia, who will play next at Texas, also was a setter for the Sea Hawks (especially when Miner was on US volleyball trips) and delivered with 331 assists.
OH Jaylen Jordan (Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth) 5-11 Sr.
A key player from the 2017 CIF Division 1 state title team, Jordan went on to have two more outstanding seasons for the Trailblazers. In 2019, she had 426 kills for a team that went to the CIFSS Division I semifinals and was as high as No. 5 in the state rankings. Jaylen, already named as Player of the Year by the L.A. Daily News, also finished her career with 1,399 kills and nearly 1,000 digs. She’s the granddaughter of legendary Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson and the daughter of former UCLA athletes Kevin Jordan (football) and Jenny Johnson Jordan (volleyball). Jordan is not going to UCLA for college, however, instead going to Long Beach State.
S Kendall Jensen (Village Christian, Sun Valley) 5-8 Sr.
Another from the L.A. Daily News coverage area who is first team is this Cal-bound setter who had a fabulous four years and a strong senior season. Village Christian had to play in higher divisions this season so winning another CIF state title after getting it done in D3 from the year before proved to be more difficult. Still, Kendall had an even higher assist per set total of 9.7 compared to 9.6 for the state title season. That equated to 1,294 assists as a junior and 988 as a senior (less matches). She also had 288 kills and 214 aces during her prep career.
OH Megan Kraft (Torrey Pines, San Diego) 6-1 Sr.
One of the toughest choices for this first group of players is whether both Megan and her beach partner, Delaynie Maple, would both be first team. Yes, three out of 16 from one team may be too much, but the task of perhaps choosing one of these two on first team with the other on second proved to almost be like choosing between twin sisters. Eventually, we just bit the bullet and went with both. Kraft had 299 kills with a team-leading 56 blocks and 223 digs for the nation’s No. 1 team. Together with Maple, the duo has won national titles on the beach and last summer they made a name for themselves on the pro beach tour with a fifth-place finish at the prestigious Hermosa Open. Both girls will go to college to be in the beach program at USC.
OH Claire Little (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta) 6-2 Fr.
There was some doubt when starting this project whether a freshman would make it up to the first team, but our friend John Tawa, the legendary volleyball analyst who started PrepVolleyball.com many years ago after we worked together at Student Sports, commented in an email that he considered Claire one of the best player of the year candidates in the state regardless of class. She led Vista Murrieta to the CIF Division I state title and already has been named as our State Freshman of the Year and MaxPreps’ National Freshman of the Year. Little also has already committed to BYU.
Bishop O’Dowd’s Michelle Ohwobete had nearly 600 kills during 2019 season. Photo: Willie Eashman.
OH Delaynie Maple (Torrey Pines, San Diego) 5-11 Sr.
It was Delaynie who ended up leading the CIF Open Division state champions in kills with 345 and she also led them in digs with 339. Maple grew up in Temecula and moved to San Diego in 2018 to train with the WAVE beach program. She and partner and fellow all-state first teamer Megan Kraft committing the way they did to playing for Torrey Pines’ indoor team and then doing what they did clearly was a big reason for the No. 1 national ranking.
OH Michelle Ohwobete (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland) 5-11 Sr.
One of the reported state leaders in kills, Ohwobete was the powerful force that led the Dragons to the CIF NorCal Open Division final. They lost in that match to Marin Catholic, but that did little to dim the season that she enjoyed. Michelle, who has signed with UC Santa Barbara, racked up 584 kills for the season ad also had 124 digs and 46 blocks. Some of her best outings over the last two years were in the biggest matches, including 31 kills in the NorCal Open semis this year vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral and 32 in the D1 state final in 2018 in a loss to Temecula Valley.
S Kami Miner (Redondo, Redondo Beach) 5-11 Jr.
The daughter of former NBA player Harold Miner already has been selected as the State Junior of the Year and was an obvious choice for one of these spots on this team. Kami also has been honored as the All-SoCal Varsity Player of the Year and is a repeater as a first team all-state player. In addition, she is an honors student.
OH Elia Rubin (Marymount, Los Angeles) 6-1 Soph.
Similar to Little nationally for the freshmen, Rubin has risen up the ranks for the sophomores. She was the leading player for a Sailors’ squad that ended No. 4 in our final state rankings based on a CIF SoCal Open Division playoff win over No. 5 Cathedral Catholic in which Elia had 29 kills. For the season, Rubin led Marymount in kills (420), digs (241) and aces (44). She’s already been selected as our State Sophomore of the Year.
S Mia Tuaniga (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 5-9 Sr.
She was a strong possibility for Ms. Volleyball along with the duo from Redondo (Kami Miner & Nalani Iosia) plus the eventual winner (Karly Diehl) and was the Gatorade State Player of the Year. Mia had a statement match when the Monarchs topped Redondo in the SoCal Open Division semifinals with 29 assists and 12 kills. She’s going to be a setter moving forward, but at Mater Dei she also was one of the team’s top terminators. Tuaniga, also first team all-state one year ago, will head next to Long Beach State. Her other brother, Josh, was an All-American there. Another brother, Gus, is a current LBSU beach volunteer assistant coach.
ALL-STATE SECOND TEAM
(All listed alphabetically; 15 players)
(Any player from any school could theoretically have been selected)
Setter Heather Ayerza from Clovis North of Fresno was named player of the year in the Tri-River Athletic Conference (one of the top leagues in Northern California). Photo: @CNGirlsVball / Twitter.com.
S Heather Ayerza (Clovis North, Fresno) 5-8 Sr.
MB Kameron Bacon (Rancho Cucamonga) 6-3 Sr.
L Lauren Bays (Foothill, Tustin) 5-8 Jr.
S/OPP Amanda Burns (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) 6-1 Jr.
MB Julia Cabri (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) 6-2 Sr.
OH Mele Corral-Blagojevich (Redondo, Redondo Beach) 5-11 Fr.
S Rachel Fairbanks (Foothill, Tustin) 5-11 Jr.
S Adonia Faumina (Long Beach Poly, Long Beach) 6-1 Soph.
MB Samantha Francis (La Jolla Country Day) 6-6 Jr.
OH/RS Natalie Grover (Menlo-Atherton, Atherton) 6-0 Sr.
MB Kerry Keefe (Marymount, Los Angeles) 6-2 Soph.
MB Lindsey Miller (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) 6-4 Sr.
S Audrey Pak (Campolindo, Moraga) 5-11 Sr.
OH Jessica Smith (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo) 6-0 Jr.
OH Sophia Tulino (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad) 6-0 Sr.
ALL-STATE THIRD TEAM
(All listed alphabetically; 30 players)
(Seniors only; Large Schools/Open divisions only)
L Jaleesa Caroccio (Liberty, Bakersfield) 5-5
MB Ramonni Cook (Cosumnes Oaks, Elk Grove) 6-0
MB Olivia Cooper (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-1
OPP Lauren Clifton (Eastlake, Chula Vista) 5-9
MB China Crouch (Carlsbad) 6-6
OH Ivana Erlandsen (Rocklin) 6-0
OH Katie Fleck (Westlake, Westlake Village) 6-0
MB Amelia Gibbs (Palo Alto) 6-2
S Danica Glover (Cypress) 5-9
OH Lydia Grote (Burroughs, Burbank) 5-11
S Alexandria Hoglund (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland) 5-6
OH Abby Karich (Los Alamitos) 6-0
OH Mackenzie Karnig (Carlsbad) 6-0
S Claire Kuykendall (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills) 5-10
S Kate Lane (Palos Verdes, PV Estates) 5-8
OH Hannah Levesque (Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga) 5-11
OH Reagan Merk (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 5-10
OH Emma Miller (St. Mary’s, Stockton) 5-11
OH Piper Naess (Laguna Beach) 5-10
S Casi Newman (San Juan Hills, SJ Capistrano) 5-9
OH Sadie Peete (California, San Ramon) 5-8
OH Jill Penner (Clovis West, Fresno) 5-6
OH/OPP Maya Satchell (Torrey Pines, San Diego) 5-11
L Chloe Scheer (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta) 5-8
OH Mara Semone (Gregori, Modesto) 5-8
OH Jody Smith (Redondo, Redondo Beach) 6-1
S Alden Stanley (Sacred Heart Cathedral, San Francisco) 5-8
OH Sonte Stewart (Valley Christian, San Jose) 6-0
S Izzi Strand (Monte Vista, Danville) 5-10
MB Whitney Thompson (Arroyo Grande) 6-3
L Taryn Whittingham (Santa Margarita, Rancho SM) 5-6
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
