LJ VB alumni: Gates 2nd Team All-American

Madeleine Gates, former Viking volleyball standout,
named Second Team All-American at UCLA
 

By Ed Piper

Madeleine Gates, a standout middle hitter-blocker in her prep days at La Jolla High, has been named to the AVCA All-American Second Team in her second year at UCLA.

The 6'3" former All-CIF player, who posted a 4.5 GPA in high school--taking an incredible five AP classes plus a Mesa College course in one semester--recorded an outstanding .338 hitting percentage with 1.19 blocks per set for the Bruins.

Gates, whose mother Amy Randel, 6'2", starred in volleyball while her father Michael Gates, 6'7", was a basketball wonk, was previously named All-Pac 12 First Team and AVCA Pacific South All-Region First Team.

It didn't take Maddie long to adjust to college life, studies, and the rigors of being a scholarship athlete whose time is totally directed by the particular coach and program she is beholden to. In a showcase at USD during her freshman year last year, she saw limited action, coming off the bench as a reserve on the front line.

Gates also showed ability and a promising future in basketball her first two years at La Jolla High in 2012-13 and 2013-14, the latter season when she helped lead the Viking girls under Coach Dave Westhem to the CIF title game, where they lost. She once pulled down 22 rebounds in a single game, which early on showed the athleticism and grit that have driven her to her present success.

Offensively for the Bruins this year, Madeleine had 15 matches in which she was in double figures for kills. She had at least six kills in every match of the season, except one. On Nov. 16 against Stanford, she recorded 22 kills to set a season and career high--so far--for herself.

On defense, she single-handedly disrupted opposing teams' rallies, leading UCLA with 15 matches making five blocks or more. She recorded 10 blocks against USD Aug. 25, and eight versus Arizona Nov. 3.

There was a video circulating on social media earlier in the school year showing the talented leaper slamming a volleyball in a basketball hoop.

Dave Jones, Madeleine's volleyball coach her freshman year at La Jolla High, often remarked on the the "elite" level of her kill percentage, which always ranked extremely high.