Jack Hyde is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arcadia High School for AZPreps365.com

Arcadia’s girls beach volleyball dynamic duo is looking once again to complete a historic and successful season with another state championship. 

Senior Lane Sheedy and junior Alexa Helms are the defending pairs state champions. 

Led by head coach Adrian Chang, the stars are eager to repeat history and cement themselves as one of the best pairs in Division 2. 

Sheedy and Helms were 13-2 in their pairs matches last season. 

Both players are entering their third season on the varsity roster.

It is just the second season these two have been on the same pair, however.

The Arcadia team as a whole finished second in Division 2  last season, going 11-1, with its only loss against Salpointe Catholic in the state semifinals. 

With the majority of its team being sophomores last season, many players are returning and hoping to leave a legacy for Arcadia.

Chang said Sheedy and Helms will have a major leadership role for this team along with mentoring the younger players. 

“For the team, I plan to hold everyone to a high standard and not let them accomplish any less than their best,” Helms said.

Helms said one of her goals as an upperclassmen is to always be encouraging and positive with her teammates – especially to the younger, more inexperienced ones. 

When talking about her goals as a leader, Sheedy said always encouraging and being positive especially when younger teammates are getting in their own heads is important.

“With the great majority of the roster being juniors who have come up in the sport together, they do a great job pushing each other and feeding off of everyone’s energy, both in practice and on game days,” Chang said.

Having players who came up into the sport together growing up gives Arcadia an edge on opponents as many pairs already have good chemistry and know each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Chang said the team has added two talented and eager freshmen, and she said she is excited to see what this team can achieve.

The players are excited for the season and are confident in his top duo on accomplishing what they did last season, Chang said.

Sheedy says she wants to lead by example and be confident in her team’s ability to find success.

Arcadia seeks to not only have another pairs state championship but also a team championship. Chang shows excitement for Arcadia girls beach volleyball and hopes to remind the division that they are consistently a top competing team with one of the best pairs in program history.

Sheedy hopes to leave her legacy and complete her high school resume. 

Helms will become a four-year varsity player and strive to become the team’s best player and leader for next season. 

“We are going to put the work in every practice with maximum effort so that we are ready for whatever challenges we might face,” Sheedy said.