Ibarra, Manning spearhead banner year

The Lindsay Cardinals enjoyed a renaissance year.

The Cards were atop or near the top of the ESL in nearly every sport.

Eight teams qualified for the playoffs and five Cardinals were named league MVPs.

No two athletes were more instrumental to that universal success than our No. 10 choices: Seniors Stevi Ibarra and Cassie Manning.

This was the only tie in the Orange Belt Top 10, but each was equally instrumental to getting their teams to the postseason.

“They were definitely the top two athletes,” Lindsay girls’ basketball coach Troy Manning said. “They knew what the other one was doing. It was pretty awesome watching them have such great years.”

Both were three-sport stars, as each shared the court on the Lindsay volleyball and basketball teams. They shined on different squads in the spring — Manning on the softball diamond and Ibarra in the pool.

“A lot of people focus on just one sport,” Cassie Manning said, “so it was really fun getting to play all three sports I really care about.”

They captained the indoor teams to playoff appearances while Manning led the softball team (21-8, 11-1 ESL) on an 11-game win streak and a home playoff game. Ibarra was a Valley qualifer in the 500-yard freestyle as well.

Ibarra said the biggest difference between her previous seasons and her final ones was the work ethic that was involved for her Cardinal swan song.

“A lot of us seniors were (saying), ‘This is my senior year, this is it, the last chance we’ll ever have; it’s our time to shine,” Ibarra said. “We were (preparing to) push hard and we did.”

The volleyball and basketball rosters were nearly identical, so the team would hit the court in the morning for serving and digging work and return in the evening to prepare for the hoops season.

The workload was constant, but Ibarra didn’t mind.

“I can’t get enough of that feeling,” she said. “I love it. It’s unusual for girls to (play three sports). It was a lot of work, but it was definitely worth it.”

Ibarra started off the year by leading the volleyball team (14-9-2, 7-2 ESL) to an ESL championship (Lindsay’s first volleyball crown in more than 25 years), earning league MVP honors in the process. 

The outside hitter smashed 330 kills on the season — 131 more than in her junior season. She hammered a season-high 26 kills in the team’s road win over Strathmore As a libero, Manning was the team’s premier defender and had 344 digs.

Months later, the two continued that momentum by leading the Cardinals to the Division IV playoffs. Lindsay’s guard-forward duo  had never been apart on the basketball court and was able to predict the other’s moves consistently.

“They knew where the other was gonna go on offense,” coach Manning said. “On defense, (the team) knew if a girl was guarded by Stevi or Cassie that they didn’t have to worry about her.”

Ibarra missed nearly two months of the season with a knee injury, but returned in time for the team’s playoff push. 

She scored a team-high 16 points to get Lindsay past Exeter in the Division IV play-in game on a night she said tied for her favorite of her high school career (along with her team’s 3-0 volleyball win over Orosi to seal the league title, Nov. 3).

In the spring, Manning was nothing short of unhittable on some afternoons. The Cards’ ace threw two no-hitters and led all Orange Belt pitchers with a 163 strikeouts. She also led the region with 45 runs on top of a .375 batting average en route to an ESL MVP award.

Cassie will attend College of the Sequoias, play basketball and major in sports medicine while Ibarra will head south to UC-Irvine. 

“I’ll definitely remember going to the playoffs in all three sports,” Cassie said. “That and getting league MVP. That was really exciting.”

Ibarra isn’t sure if she’ll don a school jersey again, but hopes to. If not, she’s glad she got to play a role in Lindsay’s resurgence.

“It was really great knowing I had a part in it,” Ibarra said. “Our class will go down in history.”

No. 10: Stevi Ibarra/Cassie Manning

Ibarra, Manning at epicenter of Cardinal resurgence

Ibarra - Lindsay Sr. volleyball, basketball and swimming

ESL volleyball MVP

Stats: 330 kills, 102 blocks, 39 aces

Season-high 26 kills vs. Strathmore

First-Team All-ESL forward

Stats: 10.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.7 SPG

Swimming: ESL 500 freestyle champion, Valley qualifier

College: UC-Irvine

Manning - Lindsay Sr. volleyball, basketball and softball

Volleyball: 344 digs, 315 receptions

Basketball: Second-Team All-ESL guard

Stats: 6.6 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.1 SPG

ESL softball MVP

Tossed two no-hitters (against Laton, Strathmore)

2.80 ERA, 163 K’s, .375 BA, 19 RBIs, 3 triples, 45 runs

College: Plans to play basketball for College of the Sequoias