State MVPs were selfless in leading teams

Picking out a skilled player is fairly simple.

But this year's Deseret Morning News volleyball MVPs aren't just skilled athletes. They are leaders on their teams, in their schools and in their communities.

And while it is more difficult to quantify leadership, it is easy to see it is exemplified in these players who not only accomplished great feats individually but who were willing to do whatever their coaches asked or their teammates needed in order for their respective teams to be successful.

5A MVP, Analaine Pelaez, Fremont

If the only thing Analaine Pelaez had to worry about this season was killing the volleyball, she wouldn't have been the special player she turned out to be. Instead, the Fremont Silver Wolves struggled to fill vacancies left by last year's graduating players, and it was Pelaez who filled many of those voids.

"She did a lot for us this year," said Silver Wolves head coach Tammy McKean. "She's a great athlete, but she worked really hard to become a smarter hitter. She's always had power, but she developed the ability to do a lot of different things season. Her all-around play was so great."

When McKean decided the team might play better in a 6-2 offense, rather than the 5-1 they'd been running, it was Pelaez she called on to play setter while on the back row.

Despite her skill, McKean said she's very easy to coach and wants only to help her team in matches whatever way she can.

"She's hard working, motivated and focused," McKean said. "No matter what it is we're doing, two-a-days, practices, matches, she never, ever loses focus. She's always intense and ready to go."

She leads by example and by encouraging her teammates to push just a little harder.

"She's a natural leader, but she's not a loud leader," said McKean.

Pelaez is still deciding where she wants to play college volleyball. In her senior season at Fremont, she earned 508 kills, 487 digs, 298 assists and 134 aces.

4A MVP, Elizabeth McArthur, Snow Canyon

When Liz McArthur winds up to hit the volleyball, Snow Canyon fans go wild. The senior outside hitter may provide spectators with a show, but her game is far from superficial.

For those who've watched McArthur play volleyball for the past four years, it might seem impossible that the senior outside hitter could get any better this year. But in leading the Warriors to their second-straight title, and their first volleyball championship as a 4A school, McArthur showed poise and skill beyond her years.

"She became a smarter hitter," said Warriors head coach Alaina Parker. "She's somebody we could have on the floor all the time."

That's because in addition to putting the volleyball away as a hitter, she was a great passer, tough server and top-notch blocker.