Dahlke named to all-CIF first team

A panel of sportswriters and coaches selected Fallbrook High School sophomore Kendra Dahlke to the all-CIF volleyball first team for 2012.

“It’s such a big honor,” Dalhke said.

Dahlke was one of ten volleyball players who earned first-team all-CIF recognition. “To be one of the top ten is a really good deal,” said Fallbrook coach Robin Reese.

Dahlke was selected to the all-CIF second team as a freshman in 2011. “This year I was really trying to push for getting first team and it all paid off,” she said.

“I’m not surprised that she got first,” Reese said.

Reese noted that she saw Dahlke’s talents throughout the season. “The other coaches saw that, also,” Reese said, adding that the sportswriters who voted on the all-CIF team also recognized Dahlke’s contributions to the Warriors. “For other people to recognize her as well is always nice.”

In 2011 Dahlke shared the Avocado East League player of the year honors and Fallbrook shared the league championship with a 9-1 record in Avocado East League play. This year the Warriors moved to the Avocado West League and were one of three teams in the league to win their first-round CIF Division I playoff match. La Costa Canyon, which is also in the Avocado West League, is in Division II for playoff purposes and won the CIF Division II championship as well as the league championship. “We’re in a tougher league this year,” Dahlke said.

Dahlke noted that she also had an additional year of play against opposing coaches who gave their players instructions to block #8. “I’m just really proud of my team for doing as good as we did this year,” she said.

Dahlke still averaged more than 20 kills per match during 2012. The 2012 Warriors finished third in the Avocado West League’s six-team standings with a 6-4 record. Fallbrook’s 16-18 overall record includes a first-round playoff win over Otay Ranch and a quarterfinal playoff loss to Poway.

The post-season honors include all-league, all-division, and all-section. “It’s not just our division; it’s everybody,” Reese said of Dahlke’s all-CIF first team honors. “I’m just more proud than anything that she would achieve that at her age.”