RENEGADES' 1ST SEASON NETS SOLID RESULTS.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer The Renegades Volleyball Club 16-under girls team has been around just one year, but in that short period they've accomplished things that no other club team in Ventura County has ever done. In April, the Renegades - who are based in Westlake Village - became the first-ever county team to take first place in the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Junior Olympics qualifying tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Then, in late June, the Renegades earned first place in the highly regarded Volleyball Festival at UC Davis, in which 300 of some of the best teams in the nation competed. One day later, the Renegades traveled to San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. for the Junior Olympics. There, they finished in fifth place. They had hoped for a better showing at the Junior Olympics, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. team director Bill O'Neill William John (Bill) O'Neill (January 22, 1880 - July 20, 1920) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1904), Washington Senators (1904) and Chicago White Sox (1906). O'Neill was a switch-hitter and threw right handed. , but the effects of playing 11 straight days finally caught up to them. ``The girls really felt they could have won (the Junior Olympics), but after playing that many days of high-level volleyball, I think it took its toll,'' said O'Neill. The Renegades are coached by Brian Hefferman, a former assistant coach at Penn State University who now teaches at Oak Park High School and assists the women's team at Pepperdine University Pepperdine University is a private institution of higher learning affiliated with the Church of Christ in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States. The university's location overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is adjacent to the city limits of Malibu. . Most of the team is made up of current Westlake High School Westlake High School may refer to:
In all, the team has six players who earned all-Marmonte League honors a year ago. The Westlake connection consists of Erika Denison, Heather Hutchison, Megan Miller, Leigh O'Neill, Brooke Rundle and Courtney Miller, who transferred from Thousand Oaks. Calabasas supplies Marie Middleton, Brooke Niles and Carina Carina (kərē`nə) [Lat.,=the keel], southern constellation, representing the keel of the ancient constellation Argo Navis, or Ship of the Argonauts. Carina contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky. Nusinov. Kasey Jungwirth is from Camarillo and Kelly Billingsley plays at Oak Park. As for the players, teamwork stands out as the key to the Renegade's success this season. ``I think we improved as the year went on because we're all such good friends,'' said Niles, who will be a sophomore at Calabasas next year. ``The improvement was gradual, but as the season went on you could see it.'' Rundle, the daughter of former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX great and U.S. Olympic star Larry Rundle, said the team set a goal of reaching the finals at the Davis Festival at the start of the season. ``That was what we were shooting for,'' she said. ``We had a lot of talent and the whole team played strong throughout the year.'' The players also had praise for Hefferman. ``He was a really big influence because he played the sport and he was able to share a lot of his strategies.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Westlake Village's Renegades won first place at theprestigious Volleyball Festival at UC Davis in June. |
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