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Seventh Grade Volleyball Girls Go Undefeated
Net Perfection
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Seventh grade volleyball girls at El Portal Middle School pose with their medals and trophy with coach Amanda Vanderwall after completing a perfect 16-0 season and winning both league and year-end tournament first place honors. They did not drop a match the entire campaign. Photo Contributed

Closing out a perfect season recently, the El Portal Middle School seventh grade volleyball girls won 16 games and claimed championship honors at the year-end tournament, hosted in the Panther gym on Oct. 4.

Head coach Amanda Vanderwall said it was a magical season for her squad.

“We won all of our matches and all of our games,” she said of the seventh graders never losing this year; they won each game by a 2-0 score, not dropping one match along the way.

In fact, both the seventh and eighth grade teams took first place in league play, with the eighth grade team – under head coach Michelle Barajas – going 14-2 on the season.

“This was the first time we have gone undefeated in 10 or 11 years,” said Vanderwall, who has been coaching volleyball for the past three years. It was also the first time in many years, she added, that both the seventh and eighth grade teams took first place in league and the year-end tournament.

In the season-ending championship competition, her seventh grades defeated Ustach and Savage to claim the title.

The seventh grade roster included Sophia Martin, Macie Vickers, Grace Spurgeon, Madison Smith, Kendra Gwartney, Mackenzie Turner, Makenzie Mendes, Corianna Gammel, Natalie Titsworth, Madison Webster, Kate Kissee, Brooklyn Mangnuson, Maia Madsen and Hannah Vortman.

The eighth grade girls had their season-ending tournament at Ustach Middle School and took first place honors there. Players on the eighth grade team included Mallory Berhorst, Gianna Bava, Ali Pence, Rylie Lattig, Makayla Wentzell, Madellyn Spurgeon, Kelsy Webster, Bailey Dugo, Carsyn Hood, Priseis Prim, Angie Resendes, Alana Snyder, Emily Vickers, Natalie Coelho and Emilee Lawson.