Palo Alto senior Becca Raffel got a chance to experience the big state in high school volleyball when she played on the Vikings’ CIF Division I state championship teams in 2010 and ’11.
While Raffel wasn’t able to lead Paly back to that level this past season, she nonetheless earned some lofty honors by being named to the MaxPreps 2013 California All-State Division I volleyball team.
Raffel recently was named to the 20-player team, which featured Player of the Year Taylor Nelson of Division I state champion Granite Bay — the team that ended Paly’s season in the NorCal semifinals.
Raffel, who had 14 kills in that final match against unbeaten Granite Bay, helped the Vikings finish 25-11 in 2013. She ended the season with 391 digs, 39 aces, 508 kills and 31 blocks. She was the only playter selected from the Central Coast Section.
Raffel was one of four local players named to an all-state team. The others were Menlo School’s Maddie Huber and Elisa Merten plus Priory’s Marine Hall-Poirier.
Huber was the MVP of the West Bay Athetic League (Foothill Division) and helped the Knights to a 32-6 record that included an appearance in the Division IV state finals. She and Merten were on the 20-player Division IV all-state team and the only players selected from the CCS.
Merten was one of seven juniors on the honor squad, which included Player of the Year Michaela Dews of Francis Parker, which defeated Menlo in the state finals. Merten, a setter, averaged 9.1 assists and added 203 digs and 39 aces while helping the Knights reach the state finals.
Hall-Poirier was only one of two CCS players named to the Division V all-state team. The other was Lizzy Tardieu of Santa Catalina in Monterey. Hall-Poirier led the Panthers to the CCS title in Division V and was an All-WBAL first-team selection.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports