Four Warriors given all-league volleyball honors, Traut on first team

Four of Fallbrook High School's girls' volleyball players were given all-league recognition by the Valley League coaches.

Skyler Traut was placed on the all-league first team. A second-team berth was given to Madison McCarty. Honorable mention designation was bestowed upon Sonsi Jarvis and Maddie Nachsteim.

"It was good to get four of them," Fallbrook coach Chip Patterson said. "It was difficult, but we got them."

Ramona High School won the league championship with a 10-0 Valley League record and the seven-member first team included three Bulldogs, including league player of the year Gracie Seits. Mission Vista High School finished with an 8-2 mark in Valley League matches for second place. Fallbrook and Escondido high schools shared third place with 5-5 league figures.

The premier award is for the league's Player of the Year rather than the league's Athlete of the Year and the unanimous selection of Seits for that honor – despite a shoulder injury which limited Seits' ability to take swings – can be attributed to the support Seits provided to her team. Factors other than physical prowess influenced the coaches in their other all-league selections.

"I think it's good sense to say all-league player," Patterson said.

Fallbrook's overall record was 19-18 and includes an Oct. 24 loss at Patrick Henry in the first round of the CIF Division II playoffs. For the entire season Traut led the team with 116 sets played, 313 kills, a .230 hitting percentage, 37 total blocks, 23 assisted blocks and 14 solo blocks. She also had 188 digs, 30 serving aces and 20 assists.

"She did well in nearly every game she played," Patterson said. "Without her contributions in a lot of those games, we probably wouldn't have done as well."

Fallbrook played 121 sets including a four-game loss Sept. 11 at Rancho Buena Vista High School when Traut was ill and did not play.

"She outplayed a lot of people," Patterson said.

The all-league award was the third for Traut. She was an honorable mention selection as a sophomore in 2016, and last year Traut and 2017 senior Emma Christopherson were Fallbrook's two representatives on the first team. Traut was on Fallbrook's junior varsity team as a freshman in 2015.

Traut, who is normally an outside hitter during her club volleyball activity, was a middle blocker for the Warriors.

"She enjoyed playing middle," Patterson said.

The switch accommodated the Warriors' needs.

"She played a lot of positions she didn't play in the past," Patterson said. "She was always consistent. She's a great player. She is going to do well when she gets to college."

Traut will play collegiate volleyball at Ottawa University, which is one of two Arizona schools in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The GSAC includes San Diego Christian College, which is in Santee, and two Orange County schools: Hope International University in Fullerton and Vanguard University in Costa Mesa.

McCarty was Fallbrook's only fourth-year varsity player. She was primarily a libero from 2015 to 2017 and moved to the outside hitter position for the start of 2018. When starting libero Keely Powell was injured McCarty returned to the libero position. McCarty played in 112 of Fallbrook's sets this year and led the Warriors with 354 digs and with 59 serving aces. She also had 202 kills, 22 assists and 13 blocks consisting of four solo blocks and nine assisted blocks.

The all-league recognition was the fourth for McCarty, who was an honorable mention selection in 2015 and on the Valley League second team in both 2016 and 2017.

Jarvis is Fallbrook's only junior who was selected for all-league recognition. The middle blocker played in 111 sets and had 220 kills, 136 digs, eight solo blocks and 14 assisted blocks for 22, 15 aces and 14 assists. Jarvis also received honorable mention recognition last year. She was on the 2016 junior varsity squad as a freshman.

Nachsteim was an outside hitter whose 115 sets in 2018 resulted in 274 digs, 194 kills, 27 aces, 13 assists and nine blocks consisting of two solo blocks and seven assisted blocks. Nachsteim was on the varsity for three years and a starter for two years. She also received all-league honorable mention accolades in 2017.

The 2018 Fallbrook varsity had four seniors, including setter Vanessa Dalton, who was an all-league player at the honorable mention level last year but missed most of this year's league matches due to a torn meniscus. Although three of Fallbrook's four all-league players are seniors, four starters are expected to return for 2019.

"Next year we'll be fine," Patterson said. "They're going to be OK."