All-Region Volleyball: Brooke Van Sickle uplifting performer for Battle Ground

First team

Christina Elliott, sr., Camas

Lauren Harris, sr., Camas

Sophia Jacobson, sr., Camas

Ashley Watkins, jr., Battle Ground

Evi Wilson, jr., Columbia River

Second team

Kaela Carnes, sr., La Center

Shyanne Chandler, sr., Ridgefield

GG Eastman, sr., Prairie

Dalaney Tuholski, sr., Heritage

Esti Wilson, jr., Columbia River

Hallie Wyles sr., Battle Ground

Her knee so stiff she could barely walk, Brooke Van Sickle got a lift.

Moments earlier, Van Sickle had led Battle Ground to its best finish at the state volleyball tournament.

Now, she was on the back of middle blocker Jossilyn Blackman, who carried her to the team’s post-match gathering in a nearby building.

It was a well-deserved break for Van Sickle. The junior had spent the whole season carrying Battle Ground’s volleyball program to heights it had never been.

For her accomplishments, Van Sickle is The Columbian’s All-Region Volleyball Player of the Year.

Battle Ground last qualified for state in 1989 but had never won a trophy.

That changed this year. The Tigers finished third in state, narrowly losing to now three-time defending champion Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma in the semifinals.

Though Battle Ground was a new face at the state tournament, Northwest volleyball aficionados have known about Van Sickle for a while. An accomplished club player, she verbally committed to play at the University of Oregon while still a sophomore.

At 5-foot-9 Van Sickle is short for an elite outside hitter, yet she led the Greater St. Helens League in kills. But she also can play setter and was among her team’s leaders in assists.

But Van Sickle’s value to her team goes well beyond statistics.

“They’ve really rallied around Brooke,” Battle Ground coach Cheyanne Knight said of the Tigers. “They’ve wanted to show her that they can support her, and that it’s not just her. … Physically, she’s just a natural. But you saw a little more finesse out of her, a more nuanced, wholistic game.”

Van Sickle has been around volleyball all of her life. Her father, Gary, played for a University of Hawaii team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation in 1991. Her mother, Lisa, played professionally in Argentina before returning home to become one of the top-ranked sand volleyball players in Hawaii.

Van Sickle began playing in the third grade and quickly rose through the club ranks. As high school approached, her parents broached the idea of having her play at a school with a richer volleyball tradition.

But Van Sickle was having none of it. She wanted to stay with her friends and build a volleyball legacy rather than add to one.

“When I got here, we weren’t that good,” Van Sickle said. “But now that we’re at the level we are, it feels amazing. I’m so happy for my teammates. … All of them are my best friends. I hang out with them at school.”

Volleyball is a rigorous sport that extends well beyond the high school season for many. Van Sickle was bothered at state by what she called an overuse injury in her knee.

But volleyball never feels like work for Van Sickle. She usually smiles on the court. Even when she makes a mistake, she will literally laugh it off.

“For me, smiling keeps me laid back and not stressed out,” Van Sickle said. “My teammates say when I’m down that if affects them too. So when I’m smiling, everyone is like ‘we’ve got this. It’s OK.’ “

Van Sickle had a strong supporting cast this season, as teammates Ashley Watkins and Hallie Wyles earned first-team all-league honors. But Van Sickle was the reason Battle Ground joined the state’s best.

Seldom is a single player largely responsible for unlocking a team’s trophy case that had been shut for decades.

But Van Sickle is that rare of a talent.