Boys’ Volleyball Preview: Flintridge Prep looks to extend league dominance
After a couple of weeks of barely being able to put together enough players to hold a practice, Flintridge Prep boys’ volleyball coach Sean Beattie finally saw his remaining athletes report to duty.
A group of players had just finished competing on the soccer and basketball teams. The arrivals allowed Beattie to start constructing a lineup to put the Rebels in position to win a sixth consecutive Prep League championship.
“Things are looking very promising and it’s always good to get the guys back ready to play some volleyball,” said Beattie, whose team fell to Oxnard in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs last season. “We graduated a chunk of our players, but I still believe we are in a good spot with having an experienced group of players and a little more depth.
“We’ve been meshing well and that gets everybody on the same page. We have a lot of people in different areas who can contribute. It’s just a matter of can we get back to the level we were at last year?”
Flintridge Prep will bring back junior outside AJ Nicassio, who finished with 269 kills and 285 digs last season en route to being named the league’s most valuable player and earning a spot on the All-Area first team. Nicassio will be joined by senior setter Tim Treinen, senior opposite Majeed Ismail and senior middle blockers Garrett Gaines and James Ayers.
“The team will lean a bit on AJ,” said Beattie, whose team will remain in Division III. “It’s going to come down to being healthy and staying consistent. We are senior-heavy, so we’ll look to try to take advantage of that and make a good run.”
Crescenta Valley had an excellent campaign a season ago, finishing 21-6, 8-2 in league for second place behind Burroughs. The Falcons won at least 20 matches for the fourth time since the program’s inception in 1990 and reached the second round of the Division II playoffs. Crescenta Valley, which lost to El Segundo, will stay in Division II.
Crescenta Valley lost All-Area picks Jonathan lee and Ben Allen to graduation and will turn to a new core in its quest to return to the playoffs. The Falcons will bring back senior libero Jordan Nelson, senior setter Gene Kim, junior outside hitter Garo Barsemian, sophomore middle blocker Brendan Harvey and sophomore opposite Andrew Boyle.
“We certainly won’t be senior-heavy, like we were the last two years,” said Crescenta Valley coach John Nelson, whose team defeated Camarillo in the playoffs last season. “We have two sophomores who will probably start and it feels like a whole new team.
“We’re doing OK and we have a lot of youth and size. I think we have a shot to be pretty good.”
Glendale Adventist Academy was the other local team to qualify for the playoffs last season. Glendale Adventist (third in the International League) began the Division V playoffs with a wild-card win against Le Lycee before falling to Santa Monica Pacifica Christian.
The Cougars, who will stay put in Division V, will look vastly different.
“It’s a completely new team,” Glendale Adventist coach Marton Medina said. “We’ll look for them to get some more experience. We have plenty of guys who can hit and pass, but we just need that starting setter who can make things happen.”
Senior Nicholas Marcondes will likely be the starting setter. He will be flanked by senior outside hitters Joshua Young, Aaron Recalbe and Joshua Weiner and senior middle blocker Donovan Corbin.
St. Francis finished seventh in the difficult Mission League last season and didn’t qualify for the Division II playoffs. The Golden Knights, who will stay in Division II, last qualified for the playoffs in 2012.
Though St. Francis lost All-Area and all-league honoree Sean Stephen (264 kills) to graduation, veteran coach Mark Frazee will have a few experienced players looking to help the Golden Knights escape the league’s basement.
St. Francis will return junior setter Joey Thompson, who collected 384 assists and was bestowed with All-Area recognition last season. Also looking to contribute for the Golden Knights are senior opposite hitters Michael Dumansky and Gage Pearson and senior outside hitter David Johnson.
“We won’t be nearly as predictable because we’ll spread the ball around more,” Frazee said. “We want everybody on the court to be totally involved.”
Glendale finished fifth in the Pacific League last season. The Nitros, who will remain in Division III, will look to head north in league with the return of junior outside hitter William Phan (188 kills) and senior libero Christian Maylad (167 digs) returning. The duo picked up all-league accolades last season.
They will be joined by senior middle blocker Francisco Olvera-Sanchez and junior setter Julian Mabunay.
“It was disappointing to finish where we did in league last year, but the guys have since put in a lot of time during the offseason and I’m impressed with their dedication,” Glendale coach Andy Cheng said. “We’ll have five returning starters and maybe we can surprise some people. Why not?”
Hoover is coming off a last-place finish in the Pacific League in which it didn’t win a match after ending a 19-year playoff drought in 2016. The Tornadoes (Division III) have built up the program, with 17 players expected to contend for spots on the roster.
“The practices have been a lot better and they are competing with each other since we have more numbers,” Hoover coach Danny Seranian said. “We’ll try to have more organization and win more games.”
Hoover will turn to senior setter/outside hitter Edwin Miciano, junior setter/outside hitter Shayne Khoshkeisi and freshman outside hitter/middle blocker Sean Nazarian.
At. St. Monica Academy, Darren Bradley takes over the coaching chores from Owen Keenan. The Crusaders (Division V) finished last in the Independence League.
Bradley is the school’s athletic director and the girls’ volleyball coach. He led the girls’ squad to a CIF championship in 2015.
It’s not clear when Bradley will be able to field a full team since most of the players compete on the boys’ basketball team, which advanced to the CIF Southern Section semifinals and will take part in the state playoffs.
“We’ve only had a couple of practices and I haven’t been able to put together a lineup,” Bradley said. “We have a lot of work to do and we’ll see when we get the guys back from basketball.”
Among those projected to start are senior outside hitter Peter Ford, senior middle blocker Freddy Sayegh, sophomore middle blocker Abraham Lemmon and senior setter Nicholas Matranga.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
