Warriors form mighty tandem

Trephan, Baklenko will likely share league MVP honors




IT TAKES TWO—Jen Trephan, left, and Cam Baklenko play together for the Westlake High girls’beach volleyball team. Trephan will play indoor volleyball at Sonoma State. Baklenko has committed to Pepperdine. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

IT TAKES TWO—Jen Trephan, left, and Cam Baklenko play together for the Westlake High girls’beach volleyball team. Trephan will play indoor volleyball at Sonoma State. Baklenko has committed to Pepperdine. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

Lil Wayne once crooned, “Life’s a beach, I’m just playing in the sand.”

The rapper isn’t literally building sand castles near the volleyball courts at Zuma Beach, but the thought of Wayne covered in neon green Zinka sunblock holding a fire truck red bucket is downright hilarious.

Even in this metaphorical world—where Lil Wayne embraces his inner child—Westlake High girls’ beach volleyball teammates Jen Trephan and Cam Baklenko would still run the beach.

Ernest Rittenhouse, Westlake’s seventh-year head coach, said Trephan and Baklenko—who are 14-0 as a pair this spring—go together better than Weezy and Drizzy.

“Of our seven years, this might be as good a team as we’ve had,” Rittenhouse said.

The coach compared Trephan and Baklenko to Olympic legends Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

“You don’t want to serve Jen because she’s intimidating,” the coach said, “but you serve Cam and you just lose.”

 

 

Trephan, a versatile 6-foot-2 powerhouse bound for Sonoma State, is a two-time Marmonte League MVP on the sand and on the indoor court. The 18-year-old honors student with a 3.8 GPA should win another beach MVP this spring.

“All she does is win,” the coach said of Trephan. “She’s won league championships—indoor and beach—every year she’s been here.”

Trephan, the youngest of Dave and Mary Ann’s three children, comes from a volleyball-loving family. Her parents played the sport in high school. Jen’s older brother, Brian, played at Westlake before graduating in 2014. Her older sister, Amy, who played at Westlake her first three prep seasons, graduated from Thousand Oaks in 2017.

The Trephan sisters, who battled each other in two league bouts in 2016, will join forces for the first time on the indoor women’s squad at Sonoma State, where Amy is an outside hitter.

Jen Trephan said she’s enjoyed her beach season with Baklenko, who moved from Washington a week before this school year began.

“She’s very passionate about (volleyball),” Trephan said of her partner. “She probably gets that from her mom.”

Baklenko, 17, is the daughter of former professional volleyball player Jen Baklenko, who was an assistant coach at the University of Washington from 2014 to 2017. Jen Baklenko starred at the University of San Diego, where she also spent time as a coach.

Cam Baklenko said her childhood included RV trips to volleyball tournaments throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“It was a very unique experience being able to go to professional tournaments when I was young to see my mom play and coach,” Cam Baklenko said. “She shaped my life in that way, as a coach and as a mom.”

The Warrior said one trip to Canada as a 10-year-old was a turning point in her volleyball career.

“I just remember (Jen Baklenko) played against two 16-yearold sisters,” Cam Baklenko said. “As a young kid seeing that, that inspired me to be able to play at that level.”

Those sisters were Megan and Nicole McNamara, Canadian twins who currently roam the beach courts at UCLA.

Baklenko is committed to playing beach volleyball at Pepperdine. The 4.2 GPA honors student is undecided on a major but she quipped, “I want to study volleyball.”

Baklenko, who grew up in Hood River, Ore., before moving to Washington state at age 7, said she’s found a home at Westlake.

“They were very welcoming,” Baklenko said of her teammates. “I was really lucky to be able to come into a new school, especially during my junior year of high school, and already have this group of girls I could call my friends.”

Rittenhouse said he’ll savor having Baklenko around for one more season before she joins Trephan in the college circuit.

He’s sure they’ll continue to thrive, even if Baklenko’s the only one who will continue playing in the sand.

Follow Jonathan Andrade on Twitter @J_ Andrade_.