Wilkes Central’s Baker named soccer MVP

Wilkes Central, the regular season champions of Mountain Valley 1A/2A girls soccer, swept the conference’s top post-season awards.

Senior midfielder Risa Baker was voted the league’s Player of the Year. Uwe Ehrlich was voted the Coach of the Year. The Eagles, ousted from the 2A state playoffs on Saturday by West Stokes, finished the season 18-3-1.

Wilkes Central began the season with a tie against 3A Burns, then lost back to back games against 3A St. Stephens and 3A Crest. From there, the Eagles won their next 14 games. After tying Ashe County 1-1, Central sealed a conference championship with victories against North Wilkes, Starmount and Forbush.

Including Baker, the Eagles put four players on the MVAC’s all-conference team and had two others on the honorable mention list.

Here is the complete all-MVAC list for girls soccer:

Player of the Year – Risa Baker (Wilkes Central)
Coach of the Year – Uwe Ehrlich (Wilkes Central)

ALL CONFERENCE
Tori Andreski (Wilkes Central)
Risa Baker (Wilkes Central)
Caitlin Curley (Wilkes Central)
Aspen Domske (Ashe County)
Mackenzie Domske (Ashe County)
Fran Garcia (Starmount)
Rebekah Howard (Elkin)
Kebrina Keys (Ashe)
Haley Lindsay (Forbush)
Jessica Martinez (Starmount)
Alex Moore (North Wilkes)
Madison Morsh (Forbush)
Rosanna Orozco (Wilkes Central)
Jessie Pardue (Starmount)
Candi Sanchez (Alleghany)
Haley Smoot (East Wilkes)
Stephanie Sprinkle (West Wilkes)
Mary Tayloe (Elkin)
Jessica Tucker (Forbush)
Savannah Walls (Alleghany)
Keri Wingler (West Wilkes)
Karanda Weaver (Ashe)

Honorable Mention
Olivia Brettschneider (Ashe)
Molly Callaway (East Wilkes)
Brittney Casstevens (Starmount)
Victoria Cohn (Forbush)
Chelsea Davis (Starmount)
Julianna Franklin (Wilkes Central)
Jessica Funk (Forbush)
Katie Huffman (East Wilkes)
Krista LaPlante (West Wilkes)
Krysten Miller (North Wilkes)
Payton Nicholson (Elkin)
Maegan Price (Alleghany)
Kristin Pruitt (North Wilkes)
Margaret Ray (Alleghany)
Catherine Schumak (Elkin)
Chrissy Simmons (Ashe)
Hannah Trawick (Wilkes Central)
Katie Wingler (West Wilkes)