Palo Alto Girls' Volleyball Ranked No. 1 In Nation

PALO ALTO (MaxPreps) – Palo Alto Senior High School was presented with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy between the boys' and girls' basketball game on Wednesday night. The honor is part of the second annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard and Palo Alto Senior is one of just six schools being honored.

The Vikings finished ranked No. 1 in the nation according to the Freeman Rankings by MaxPreps, which ranks more than 17,000 high school girls' volleyball teams.

"On behalf of MaxPreps, I would like to congratulate Coach Winn and the Palo Alto Senior High School girls' volleyball team on an outstanding season," said President and Founder, Andy Beal. "As one of the fastest growing high school sports, it is only natural that MaxPreps and the Army National Guard team-up to honor the top girls' teams in the nation."

Palo Alto beat Marymount (LA) in 5 games to win their second-straight CIF Division I State Championship. The Vikings entered the 2011 season with eight seniors and high expectations after winning the CIF Division I State Championship in 2010. Though the bar was set high, the Vikings didn't take the easy route back to the title game. Instead they played a tough schedule including nationally ranked opponents that helped to set the stage for a repeat trip to the state finals and repeat victory.

"It is a huge honor to be recognized by MaxPreps and the Army National Guard," said Palo Alto Senior head coach David Winn. "We are ecstatic. This is a cool way for us to celebrate our success with the whole school and for the students to be a part of a school with a nationally ranked volleyball team."

Seniors Melanie Wade, Maddie Kuppe and Kimmy Whitson led the team. Middle blocker Wade (Washington) registered a team-leading 594 kills, team-leading 65 aces, and was second on the team in digs (255) and blocks (53). Kuppe, an outside hitter who has committed to the University of Connecticut, led the team with 308 digs. In addition, she was second on the team in kills (439) and aces (61). Setter Whitson (Pacific) had a team-best 1,177 assists, 46 service aces, 205 digs and 43 blocks.

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