Saint Katherine sand suits former West Valley beach standout Kaylin Henderson

SARATOGA - In the spring of 2019, Kaylin Henderson teamed with Mapuhola Sekona to accomplish something no West Valley or Northern California beach pair had done in the history of CCCAA beach volleyball. Henderson and Sekona blazed an undefeated path through the CCCAA State Championship tournament to the championship match against Grossmont's Ashlee Goycoochea and Alexcis Morris. The Grossmont pair took the state title in an epic 21-19, 18-21, 16-14 thriller, but the Henderson and Sekona runner-up finish was the highest ever for a NorCal duo.

Henderson was a two-sport star for coach Armen Zakarian's indoor and beach program from 2017-2019. During that time, Henderson was a key component of the 2019 Coast Conference champion Viking beach squad, teaming with Sekona to capture both the Coast Conference and NorCal pairs titles. Indoors, the 5-9 outside hitter from Quincy, was an All-Coast and All-State Tournament 1st Teamer for a WVC team that finished fifth in the state in 2018. She was the recipient of the WVC Viking Award for her inspirational play following the 2018-2019 season and accepted a scholarship to the University of Saint Katherine in San Marcos.

At USK, Henderson teamed with Aubrey Cardoza as the Firebirds #1 pair. Henderson and Cardoza had a 2-2 record in 2020 before the season was halted in March, and, while Hendo returns to the Firebirds for her senior season in 2021, she will always be a cornerstone for the West Valley indoor and beach volleyball program.

(Matt Folsom, West Valley Athletics)