Athlete of the Week: SHP’s Elena Radeff

Never, that is, until this season.

“That was a role we needed so I was happy to step in because I think being a team player is super important,” Radeff said.

In her first season as Sacred Heart Prep’s outside hitter, Radeff showed just how dominant she can be in the opening week of West Bay Athletic League play, accumulating 50 kills over two matches, each four-set wins over Notre Dame-San Jose and Menlo School, respectively, earning her Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors.

Last Tuesday’s WBAL opener saw Radeff record a career-high 23 kills. It took just two days for her to surpass that mark, and to do so in style, gunning the Gators past two-time defending Foothill Division champion Menlo, crushing a double-double to the tune of 14 digs and a new career-high 27 kills.

“She is a definite force to be reckoned with,” Gators head coach Ali Magner said. “She’s going to be fun to watch.”

Radeff is a four-year varsity standout who started her career as a freshman opposite hitter in 2016, and moved to middle hitter as a sophomore. While showing plenty of potential as an attacker, the left side was spoken for through her underclassman years, with 2017 WBAL Foothill Division MVP Cate Desler manning the left pin.

In the wake of Desler’s graduation, Radeff stayed at middle last season but still lit it up, leading the Gators in kills and being named to the all-WBAL first team.

This year, though, she made the big switch, and not only in terms of moving to the left side. Radeff has settled in as a six-rotation player for the first time in her career, and recorded her first varsity double-double Sept. 7 against Aragon. She now has four double-doubles to her credit.

“She’s consistently playing six rotations,” Magner said, who offered the simple reasons, “just growth and experience on the court.”

Even on the club circuit, Radeff has generally been relegated to the right side. For three years, the Burlingame native has paired with one of her best friends, Burlingame senior Emmy Sharp, who has long played outside hitter. The two first met on the beach court when they were 12, playing at Red Rock Volleyball Club in Redwood City. Most recently, they have spent the past few seasons with the Rage Volleyball Club in Belmont.

“It was so fun to play with her,” Radeff said. “She’s such an amazing player as well. So, playing with her is such a great honor.”

And while Sharp is verbally committed to play beach volleyball at Stanford, Radeff is also squared away collegiately, having committed to play indoor volleyball at Santa Clara University.

Radeff, though, is focused on the task set before her, looking to push for SHP’s first WBAL Foothill title since 2012. Last Thursday’s win over Menlo was a good start. Not only has Menlo won back-to-back Foothill Division titles, the reigning champs had won 25 straight league matches dating back to 2016.

“As a team, we knew we really needed to get the job done … because they are definitely a good team,” Radeff said. “So, it sets a good trajectory for our team for what we want to be — and beyond that.”

Even with 27 kills, the Gators still managed to distribute the attack with three players — senior opposite Reagan Smith, junior outside hitter Sofia Wheeler and sophomore middle Sara Alnajjar — totaling seven kills apiece. This is a result of SHP fielding an adept sophomore setter in Millie Muir.

Along with Radeff, Muir was the Gators’ only other first-team all-league player in 2018. And she has another exceptional trait in common with Radeff. In 2016, Radeff was the only freshman named to the varsity roster. There hadn’t been another freshman to play an entire varsity season at SHP until Muir did so last season.

“She’s such a great setter and she has the ability to connect with all her hitters,” Radeff said. “She’s so talented on both ends … swinging and setting.”

And the tandem was able to hit the ground running last season. Muir also played for Rage Westside, where the two connected with the club team in 2018 prior to Muir even setting foot on the SHP campus.

“Having that chemistry with Millie before, and having that season under our belts … and getting our timing down, it was great,” Radeff said.

The connection has been evident through SHP’s first two league matches. And Radeff certainly rose to the occasion in the high-intensity atmosphere of the rivalry matchup with neighboring Menlo.

Radeff has gained reverence for these kinds of performances, though. And the writing on the wall is clear — there’s more where that came from.

“Elena’s a competitor,” Magner said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”