NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
When Valencia’s Lauren Russ won The Signal’s 2015 All-Santa Clarita girls volleyball Player of the Year in January, there was a reference made to how young she was.
At the time, then-sophomore Russ was the first 10th grader to win the sport’s All-SCV honor in at least 32 years, according to The Signal’s archives.
She had just completed her first full varsity season on a well-rounded Vikings’ squad that went on a historic postseason run — advancing to their first CIF-Southern Section divisional championship match in program history after defeating the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds in Division 1A.
But when she became the first volleyball player to win The Signal’s Newcomer of the Year award, her age wasn’t nearly as important.
It became obsolete. The only thing that popped on our voting ballots was what the sophomore did on the court.
“I think the best thing about Lauren was that she didn’t play young,” said Valencia head coach Ray Sanchez. “There was no way by watching her play you could tell that it was her first full season on varsity. She was off the charts for us last year.”
Russ was indeed off the charts for the Vikes in 2015.
She led a powerful and well-balanced Valencia offense in most statistical categories, including her 316 kills and league-leading 75 aces on her way to All-Foothill League and All-CIF honors.
Her attack from the outside was forceful and her jump serve boomed off her hand with as much strength as her kill attempts.
“Coming in (the 2015 season) I was excited to play and then once the season went on, I felt stronger,” Russ said. “And I just felt ready to play all the tough teams.”
“It was probably one of the best teams I’ve had. I kind of did as much as I could to get the ball up and just play as hard as I can to help my team win.”
The 5-foot, 10-inch attacker also helped pass and defend (she had the third most digs for Valencia 336) for the Vikings, who swept No. 1 seeded Rancho Cucamonga to advance to their first finals.
“It’s one of the things she does better than most athletes,” Sanchez said about her growth as a player. “She’s a fantastic worker and very, very much takes to that and applies it and changes her game. She was steadily improving last year.”
The Vikes headed back into the gym this week for high school practices.
And by the looks of it, there’s no stopping the rising junior.
“The biggest difference that I see in her this year is the work she’s done in the weight room,” Sanchez said. “She’s a little leaner, she’s a little bit stronger, she’s a little bit more explosive.
“So that’s going to help take her to that next level. And that work ethic, it’s huge. It’s huge for her personal growth and it’s huge for her growth as a player, and it makes it her an even more impactful player for us this year than she was last year.”
If Russ is more impactful than she was in her sophomore season, she just might continue to rack up postseason awards.