All-orange Belt Volleyball POY, Andrea Lopez
To understand Monache High School senior Andrea Lopez’s success this season you’ll have to start at the beginning — back in the fourth grade when she first picked up a volleyball at a summer event at Lindsay’s Mcdermont Field House.
“I started off really bad at volleyball, but I kept playing every year and each year I got a lot better,” Lopez said. “I thought I was pretty good, so I just continued to do it and then did club and then eventually high school.”
By “kept playing” Lopez means dedicating a majority of her life to developing her skills on the court. And that daily dedication of 5 a.m. workouts plus twoand-a-half-hour night practices — while also juggling a job and four AP classes this season — earned her All-east Yosemite League first-team honors for the first time in her four-year varsity career. An all-around star on the court and the biggest hitter in the area, Lopez is The Recorder’s 2017 All-orange Belt Volleyball Player of the Year.
“I believe she was deserving of first team last year, but it’s tough to get three players recognized,” MHS head coach Rosalia Quinones said. “Her stats this season definitely showed that she is a first-team player. She was an overall impact player.”
As an outside hitter Lopez not only led the Marauders and the Orange Belt in kills with 413 — 101 more than last season — but also finished just 19 kills shy of having the most of any EYL player as well. She also led Monache in aces (56), finished second in digs (245) behind senior libero Brianna Johnson (359) and fourth in blocks (28).
“She has great work ethic, giving 100 percent on the court as well as off the court,” Quinones said. “She was dedicated to going to the gym and lifting weights. Being physically stronger than last year and improvements in her defense and reading the ball, helped Andrea lead on the court.”
Monache (25-10, 7-3 EYL) finished league tied for second with Tulare Union (22-13, 7-3 EYL), but earned a seventh seed in the CIF Central Section Division II Championship tournament. The Marauders opened the playoffs with a 3-0 win over 10th-seed El Diamante (1614) before losing 3-2 to second-seed and eventual Valley champion Exeter (28-13). Lopez had one of her best games with 19 digs and a game-high 19 kills.
“The game that stands out the most for me was the quarterfinal match at Exeter,” Quinones said. “It was the first [set] and Andrea went flying through our bench, landing in the bleachers. I knew then she really wanted the win, to keep the season alive and a shot for a Valley title.”
On facing Exeter, Lopez said, “It was really intense. We went to five sets and it was a really good game. I felt that I was hitting really good that night and my team was playing really good defense so that game was just really good.” Quinones added that Lopez is “very confident in her abilities,” something Lopez attributes to her play and work with the highly competitive 18U So-cal Juniors Volleyball Club — a team Lopez has been on since she was only in the eighth grade. The work she puts in under So-cal and former Porterville High School head coach Job Lara made her almost expect to receive first-team honors this season.
“I think I did expect it just cause I thought I was working hard and it was showing,” she said. “But it wasn't expected, I didn't know I was going to get it…every year, even my freshman year I've just gotten second [team]. Part of it is because my club coach, Job, I started playing on an 18U team when I was only in eighth grade. So I had just been playing at the higher level and learning how to play at that level.”
The experience of playing with older girls allowed Lopez to better transition from club to the high school varsity team and take on any role she was given as a freshman. This season Lopez's role grew after the Marauders graduated CO-EYL MVP and The Recorder's 2016 Allorange Belt Volleyball Player of the Year, middle hitter Bryn Short, last year.
“Andrea knew from the beginning of the season that she was going to be our ‘go-to player',” Quinones said. “I believe she was excited and up for the challenge of leading her team at the net. She was also a primary passer and helped us stay in system with good passing.”
Quinones coached Lopez for two season and said she would miss her senior's “down to earth, calm and collected attitude”. She also noted how hard it will be to find someone as dominant at the net as Lopez.
“She will be tough to replace on the court,” Quinones said. “I loved watching her keep the defense on their toes. She was very versatile at varying her attack approach from swinging away, to using the block, tipping, or cutting the ball. It was beautiful to watch.”
But there's still more to come for the senior who's idea of fun is going to the gym and doing homework with friends at Starbucks where her favorite drink is a venti iced coffee with cream and caramel syrup no matter the season.
“I'm playing for a [junior college], I just don't know which one yet. I think my first option is Pierce College in [Los Angeles] and I'm just looking at other local ones like West Hills, Reedley, [and] Taft,” Lopez said. She plans to major in either biology or chemistry and become a pediatrician.
“She is a well-rounded overall player and I believe her drive and love for the game will make her successful at [the college] level,” Quinones said. “She will undoubtedly be a great asset to the program, school, she chooses to play for.”