Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s regional champion, state tournament qualifying varsity volleyball team was awarded the Lesley A. Cooke Sportsmanship Award, a county e-mail announced yesterday.
    The award is given out every year to the team at the MPSSAA volleyball state tournament that displays the best overall sportsmanship. The award is named after Lesley A. Cooke in acknowledgment of her longtime membership on the state volleyball committee.
    Coach Lloyd explained that positive attitudes and behavior helped the team overcome challenges such as not having their own home gym until late in the season.
    “Playing volleyball is great, getting better at volleyball is great, but being good people is more important,” said Coach Lloyd. “ My girls are about people and about doing the right thing. And I think a lot of them show leadership in that, not just one or two.”
    While the award may not completely atone for the team’s loss in the state semifinals against Arundel, it puts a cap on a special season for the 2012 squad.
“I’m proud of us, said junior middle blocker Amidat Sonekan. “ I know we worked hard this season, and this is one positive thing that came out of it.”