Providence comes up short against Liberty League frontrunner
BURBANK — Last season, Providence High’s girls’ volleyball team finished at .500 in Liberty League play and won a coin flip to reach the postseason. The Pioneers are on a similar trajectory this season after finishing even through the first round of Liberty action.
On Tuesday evening, the Pioneers started the second round of competition in league play hosting current league leader Archer School for Girls and, despite holding a lead in the first and third games, Providence was swept by the Panthers,27-25, 25-14 and 25-22.
“I thought we played well,” Providence Coach James Jimenez said. “The hitters played well. It is just Archer closed us out. They made the plays when they needed to and maybe we struggled a little bit toward the end.”
In the opening game, Providence (16-8-1, 2-3 in league) grabbed an early lead on Archer (12-4-1, 5-0) at 5-2 following an ace by Pioneer Nikka Adraneda. However, the Panthers came back to take a five-point lead at 14-9, but, as the game reached conclusion, the Pioneers had once again claimed advantage and were two points away from finishing on top at 23-19. Archer then went on a 5-0 run to get to game point, only to see Pioneer Stephanie Henoud tie it at 24 with a kill. The final tie of the opener came at 25 before Archer got a kill from the outside followed by an ace to close it out.
Game two saw the Panthers, ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division VI-AA, roll over the hosts, scoring the first nine points of the game, including three aces by Sophie Smyth. The Archer cushion peaked at 15 before Panther Christian Luhnow set the final margin with an outside kill.
The Panthers, who had lost a nonleague match at Sierra Canyon the night before, seemed to lose some steam in game three. After trading the lead early, Providence built an 18-14 advantage following a kill from the outside by Emily Mai. However, Luhnow then strung together three straight kills. The final tie of the final game was at 19. The hosts got to within one at 23-22, but a Pioneers hitting error followed by a tip kill by Clara Gasparetti ended the contest.
Mai led the Pioneers in kills with seven. Middle hitter Ava Midkiff had five kills. Setter Alyssa Camacho had 18 assists. Throughout the contest it was the Pioneers defense that shined brightest, anchored by Maria Benedicto. The senior libero had a team-high 18 digs.
“Their defense was amazing, their libero particularly,” Archer Coach Jonathan Lotz said. “Wherever we were hitting, there she was. Even when we told our girls to hit different spots, she was there in those spots also.”
Archer, which also swept Providence on Oct. 9 at Santa Monica College, was led in kills by Luhnow with a match-high 17. Gasparetti had six and Smyth finished with five.
“That is a really, really scrappy team,” Lotz said of the Pioneers. “That is like a hallmark of Providence that every single year, year in and year out, you are going to have to earn every single point against them and they made us today.”
Up next for both schools is a Liberty League match against Milken. The Pioneers will go on the road for their shot on Thursday, looking to get back to .500 in league play. On Tuesday, the Panthers will look to stay undefeated when they host Milken.
“They came out strong against probably the league championship team here [in Archer],” Jimenez said. “We had late leads in the first and third games, but we were unable to finish out. Overall, I’m happy about how we played, but not the result.”