Local quintet looks to make mark in boys’ volleyball playoffs
City showdowns, wild-card matches and playoff aspirations highlight the action as the CIF Southern Section released its boys’ volleyball playoff pairings Friday afternoon.
Crescenta Valley High, Glendale Adventist Academy, Flintridge Prep, St. Francis and St. Monica Academy get going between Saturday and Tuesday with perhaps the most intriguing matchup taking place in the Division III first round.
There, Prep League champion Flintridge Prep (21-3) hosts neighbor and Rio Hondo League quad-champion La Cañada (11-15) at 6 p.m.
The Spartans and Rebels faced each other March 6 in a match won by Flintridge Prep, 25-16, 25-14, 25-22 in what was La Cañada’s season opener.
“I think it’s going to be a good match-up,” Flintridge Prep coach Sean Beattie said. “We played and already we beat them, but it was the first game of the season and we expect to see a much different and better team.”
While the Spartans are on a mini two-match winning streak, the Rebels dropped their last two matches of the Crescenta Valley Tournament on Saturday.
Nonetheless, the Rebels have been a rock this season and clinched a sixth straight league championship.
Flintridge Prep is looking to recover from losing a Division III first-round thriller last season, 3-2, to Oxnard.
The winner of Tuesday’s match advances to Thursday’s second round and will face Sunbelt League champion Perris (24-2), Pioneer League runner-up Torrance (14-15) or Big VIII fourth-place finisher Norco (14-10).
Pacific League fourth-place finisher Crescenta Valley (18-11) hits the court first as the Falcons open the postseason Saturday hosting Moore League fourth-place team Long Beach Poly (11-15) at 6 p.m.
The Falcons are hoping to parlay a 4-2 run through their host tournament into some postseason momentum.
Last year, Crescenta Valley defeated Camarillo, 3-2, in the Division II first round before falling to El Segundo, 3-0, in the next round.
A victory for the Falcons would send the squad to the first round Tuesday at third-seeded Del Rey League champion Torrance Bishop Montgomery (18-9).
International League runner-up St. Monica Academy (11-4) is also in the wild-card round and will host Liberty League third-place Milken Community in Division V play Monday at 6 p.m.
The Crusaders rebounded from a difficult 2017 season, in which they won one league match, to advance to the postseason for the first time since 2014.
St. Monica has won six straight contests.
A win would vault the Crusaders into a quick turnaround as they would travel to Independence League champion West Hills de Toledo (10-6) in Tuesday’s first round.
While Flintridge Prep and La Cañada remain within city borders, St. Francis also lucked out in terms of proximity with a nearby clash versus Almont League champion San Gabriel (14-0) in the Division II first round.
The Mission League third-place Golden Knights (19-13) are back in the postseason for the first time since the 2012 season with their strongest team, in terms of wins, in more than a decade.
Should St. Francis earn a postseason triumph, it would advance to Thursday’s second round to face Golden League champion Quartz Hill (20-3-2) or Pacific View League co-champion Oxnard Rio Mesa (17-8).
One team that did not enjoy a favorable draw in distance or degree of difficulty is Independence League runner-up Glendale Adventist (6-7).
The Cougars, whose school is made up of 139 students, will make the 137-mile roundtrip to face Citrus Belt League runner-up Redlands (17-4), a school that’s student-body numbers 2,347.
“The first thing I did was check out their roster and there’s a lot of 6-footers and I want to say we have two, three,” Glendale Adventist coach Marton Medina said. “We’ve only got one guy with experience; the rest are all starting for the first time this year. We don’t have high expectations, but we’re going to go out there and do our best.”
Glendale has already matched last season’s success as the Cougars won a wild-card contest, 3-2, over Le Lycee before falling to Pacifica Christian, 3-0.
