With a 53-14 win over the Ballard Beavers on Friday, November 3, the Arlington Eagles moved to 10-0, confirming their spot in the round of 16 playoffs. Eagles play Ridgeline High School Friday, November 10 at 5pm
It’s not so often you see an undefeated football team going into the playoffs. Team captain, Willem Van-Dongen (‘24) said “It’s awesome, not very many teams are undefeated, it just shows the effort and work we put into this team.”
Van Dongen also said a big reason we are undefeated is because the team doesn’t look past any opponent. Every team is there to leave their mark and beat the Eagles.
“The whole team has to get better every week, learn from the mistakes we’ve made and try to get as close to perfection as possible.”
Arlington senior, Kobi Spady said, “the team is very successful because we are just a bunch of guys who go out there on Friday nights and do our jobs.”
Spady said if every person does their job to the fullest, the win will fall to them. Though celebrating a victory is important, focusing on the next game is even more important. “Friday night and Saturday are for celebrating, and Sunday is when we flip the switch and lock in to face the next opponent.”
Alex Cunningham (‘25) said “When everyone is all on the same page and has complete trust for each other combined with the talent we have is what makes us undefeated.”
“I think we definitely have a target on our back,” said Cunningham.
The winning streak shows the amount of work we put in but said “playoffs everyone is 0-0, record doesn’t matter anymore.”
Varsity volleyball team had immense ups and downs. With a final in season score of 8-11 overall and 8-8 in district. Varsity has a very young but talented team this year that has had many key players. Their final placing was ninth in 3A Wesco with only three seniors; they have proven to be a young team with great potential. This team’s weeks consist of games twice a week, two two hour practices, and on Friday’s an hour practice and forty-five minute lift. This team prioritizes communication and positive relationships on and off the court.
One of their top players is Melissa Hadley, a junior, with an average of 3.4 kills per set. Hadley plays outside hitter and has been playing volleyball for twelve years. Hadley said her favorite game of the season was the Lynnwood game because “it flowed very well and they were a very well put together team on the court”.
The final score of Arlington v.s Lynnwood was 3-0. Hadley is a known player with a strong drive and determination on the court. She has some major goals for her upcoming year to look forward to.
Savannah Roberts, senior, has been playing volleyball since third grade. Her favorite thing about playing volleyball is the people she has met and the ones she gets to hangout with every day at practice. Roberts has had an amazing season with 131 total digs and an average of 2.9 per set. Roberts is libero and says her and her teammates work together when games are not going the way they planned by “talking it out and knowing why they’re there and why they want to play”.
Roberts has left her legacy on Arlington’s volleyball program by sticking with it this year and pushing through and teaching the younger players what volleyball means to her so they can continue with it when she’s gone,
Emme Shaffer, sophomore, has been a key player for the varsity team this year. She has had 263 receptions and 179 digs. Additionally, Shaffer has had the highest average of 3.6 digs per set this season. Her favorite memory of being on the team this year was the WSU camp last summer. Shaffers legacy she wants to leave on the Arlington High School volleyball program is to “take her team to state her senior year and be known as a good player”.
“I think that’s the big thing about soccer, just keep that level headed, going into every game doing your best, a goal comes out of it, said Jersey Walker (‘24).
Walker scored a Hat Trick this year against Lynnwood and last year against Lynnwood too. She wants other players who struggle with scoring goals to not focus on directly scoring the goals, but instead just playing soccer and the goals will come from it. Walker said having the mentality that you’re the best will help a lot when playing soccer; soccer is repetition. They practice so much to do the same things and it all comes together on game day. Walker and the Snow twins have played soccer with each other since they were young in club soccer and even basketball. “Katie is incredible, yes. She’s one of the best keepers in this state for sure and I’m excited to see where she goes,” Walker said of Katie’s seven shutouts this season.
“I like the competitive parts of basically any sport and just competing and winning,” said Rachel Snow (‘24). She has been playing soccer since she was 5 or 6, and she enjoys playing with her sister Katie on the same team, but is sad that this was their last time playing soccer in high school together.
Katie Snow (‘24) said, “I don’t really have a [pre-game] routine. I just go and play.”
In regards to the 7 shutout games, she takes some pride in it, but really thinks the rest of the defense is amazing. She’s a team player, always talking to the team and trying to direct people. She enjoys playing with her sister Rachel and says the experience has been really fun.
“I would say it doesn’t matter if you’re not getting goals, as long as your team’s winning. The goal is to go to state as a team,” said Grace Davis (‘25). As the team’s assist leader, she says she doesn’t mind having assists and not many goals. Most of her actual assists come from free kicks to her forward. She thinks if the team focuses and figures out plays to score off of, they would’ve been a much more solid team.
“I try to warm up like I would in the game, just so I’m in that mindset already,” said sophomore Isabelle Berhman. Being tied with first place for goals, she came into the season not really expecting to score. On varsity this year, she learned to play new positions she’s never been in before.
