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Glendale Adventist Academy girls’ volleyball sweeps past Orangewood Academy

Glendale Adventist Academy’s Camille Pizarro and the Cougars prevailed against Orangewood Academy on MOnday.
(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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GLENDALE — There’s been plenty for the Glendale Adventist Academy girls’ volleyball to celebrate during the first month of the season.

It took another step forward Monday, behind the one-two punch of outside hitters Elyse Knipschild and Paige Singleton.

Glendale Adventist received 12 kills from Knipschild and 11 from Singleton to register a 25-9, 25-19, 25-19 nonleague home victory against Orangewood Academy.

It marked the second time in less than a week that Glendale Adventist (7-0) defeated Orangewood (8-3). The Cougars, ranked fifth in CIF Southern Section Division XI, recorded a 25-13, 25-17 win against the Spartans (No. 9 in the division) in the Orangewood Tournament on Thursday.

“We’re off to a great start, but we don’t analyze too much what we’ve been doing,” Glendale Adventist fifth-year coach Gared Luquet said. “We’ve had the same five starters for most of the last few years and they know what to do.

“They just go out there, led by our seniors, and try to take control of the different situations. We’ve got solid middle blockers and outside hitters. That allows us to be able to spread out the offense.”

Knipschild, a freshman, had nine kills through the first two sets to help the Cougars take a commanding 2-0 lead. She added four aces.

“I was nervous when I first started, but they have really welcomed me,” said Knipschild, who closed out the second game with a kill. “I try to get on a roll and help out any way I can.

“It’s been great getting all of these wins. We just have to keep picking each other up.”

Singleton, a former All-Area selection and four-year starter, had eight kills over the last two sets. Singleton finished with four kills in the third set, with the final tally sealing the victory.

“We were able to go on some runs in each set and that helped,” Singleton said. “We were able to get our serves over the net and be in good position for receiving.

“It’s great when you have a lot of options and can turn to different people to put the ball over the net. We do have the pieces in place. We just have to continue proving to ourselves that we can keep doing it again.”

Glendale Adventist got three aces each from Kristine Nicholas and Camille Pizarro.

Orangewood received nine kills from Aixchel Hernandez.

charles.rich@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich

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