Mission Valley volleyball players get post season honors

The Arlee Scarlets had four players named to the Western 14-C All-Conference volleyball team.

Mikayla Rieken, Eden Morin and Ashley Revis were all named to the 14-C All-Conference first team. Other Mission Valley players that received recognition include Allie Delaney, who was named to the Western 14-C second team and Bella Hawk and Sakoya Gaustad were also named as honorable mention.

Scarlets head coach Lonnie Morin said she was “excited” about her and other valley players receiving recognition in such a competitive conference.

“We work very hard in our gym on just playing volleyball, a lot of volleyball. That seems to work the best at giving us some chemistry and rhythm to our game,” Morin said. “Having seniors that know what I want is a blessing and I had that this year with all of my seniors and the juniors and sophomores came to play as well. All of my players are important to the program, no matter what their role is on the team. We really learned that concept this year, teamwork makes the dream work.”

Morin, whose team qualified for divisionals for the third-consecutive season in a row, said she felt all of her players grew from this season.

“Each one of my players grew this year, from those on the all-conference list to the freshman that showed up ready to learn,” Morin said. “The program is losing some great athletes, and creating new ones, so we just want to keep that legacy going. Always learning and working on our communication and energy. It’s never been boring and I love coaching the girls.”

The Scarlets weren’t the only team in the Mission Valley that received recognition in the 14-C Western All-Conference team. Charlo Vikings’ players Caitlin Cox was named to the MHSA All-State team. Cox became the first-ever player in Charlo Vikings’ head coach Janelle Pruitt’s career to receive such an honor.

Morin, whose team played Charlo several times this season, said they had to account for where Cox was on the court at all times.

“Caitlin Cox is an amazing athlete and person. We focus on her as a team because we know 80 percent of the sets are going to her,” Morin said. “Her hitting form is spot on, she knows it’s not how hard she hits but how quick she whips and hits the ball high. It really is a beautiful thing to watch. My back row was stellar this year and they were able to learn Caitlin’s habits and capitalize on reading her hits. That’s the main thing that saved us.”

Last year Charlo and Arlee both qualified for divisionals. This season Plains and Arlee were the two representatives out of the Western 14-C conference at this year’s Divisional volleyball tournament.

The following is a list of players that received All-State honors:

14-C All Conference:

All Conference 1st Team:

**Jessica Thompson- Plains

**Kaitlin Cox- Charlo

Mikayla Rieken-Arlee

Eden Morin- Arlee

Ashley Revis- Arlee

Rachel Huenink

All Conference 2nd Team:

Allie Delaney- Charlo

Danielle Cannon- Hot Springs

Sage Jackson- Hot Springs

Kristina Brown-Noxon

Kara Altmiller- Plains

Lindsay Laws- Plains

Anna Sanford- St. Regis

Honorable Mention-

Bella Hawk- Charlo

Sakoya Gaustad- Charlo

Sydney Jackson- Hot Springs

McKennzie Cannon- Hot Springs

Cory Brodmerkle- Noxon

Anna Kaiser- Noxon

Emma Hill- St. Regis

**Denotes All-State honors