Serving Their Way to the Top: ACP’s Varsity Girls Volleyball

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Natalie Phillips

Game time! The Knights huddle before their game Monday night against Santa Cruz Valley. ACP would go on to win in 3 sets on Madi Bonfigt night.

Besides being a very academically challenging school, ACP is also home to many athletes. Having to juggle the challenges of class already, they also have their plates full with sports and the difficulties that already come with that. Last year, ACP’S volleyball girls managed the impossible.

ACP’S Varsity Girls Volleyball Team has recently placed top 25 nationwide for their astounding team GPA. Recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (known as AVCA), they were praised for their combined 4.34 team GPA from the 2017-2018 school year. They also made the AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll for High School Girls.

2017-2018’s Varsity Girls Volleyball team players were Hailey Blixt, Lucy Hoffman, Kennedy Orr, Emma Byrd, Kelsey Burns, Madison Bonfigt, Katherine Crawford, Krista Rowan, Daria Sukhareva, Megan Tonkinson, Tendall Weigand, and Julia Golichowski.

Daria Sukhareva, now a senior who’s position is Outside Hitter, explained to me what it was like for the team.

Q: Can you explain to me what it was about?

A: Among all the high schools in the nation, we were placed in the Top Ten because of our GPA. Of all the schools that were picked, our entire team had a combined 4.34.

Q: Was it a huge challenge for the team?

A: It was a huge challenge a lot of the time, but our coaches were really flexible. They would let us go after school for tutoring and combine it with practice, kind of to get tutoring and such when you needed. The coaches helped out a lot and we were all very supportive of each other.

Q: Was it a surprise when the team was picked?

A: It was really a surprise because we never knew that the award existed. We always knew that we were academically challenged throughout the years, so I guess you could say we were killing it!

By the end of the volleyball season, the girls managed to rank 87th place in the state of Arizona. Not only did they have an impressive season, but they had managed to keep their grades up and earn an awe-inspiring 4.34 GPA team total by striving for the impossible and being extraordinary.