Providence High boys’ volleyball settles for solid showing in tournament
BURBANK — Reorganizing itself on the fly finally caught up to the Providence High boys’ volleyball team in Saturday’s second day of the school’s home tournament.
Yet, there wasn’t much disappointment for a squad missing four players due to a field trip gone awry as the Pioneers finished 2-2 and lost in the 22nd annual Providence Tournament’s third-place game to visiting Oakwood School, 25-21, 25-18.
“I’m super happy the way we played,” Providence Coach Josh Eggleston said. “We brought up a bunch of guys from junior varsity and we weren’t sure how they would do against varsity competition. They really did well.
“There’s a lot to work on, but as a starting point so far this year, I’m happy with where we’re at.”
Providence (2-2) was down four players who were on a school trip in Washington, DC and encountered transportation issues, thus forcing them to miss the tournament.
Even with that setback, the Pioneers won their pool after defeating Pacific Hills and Canoga Park Armenian General Benevolent Union on Friday.
On Saturday, though, the Pioneers ran into two foes they were unable to overcome.
Versus Oakwood in the third-place match, Providence showed grit, as the Pioneers turned in their best rally late.
The Gorillas reached game-point, 24-16, but were repelled on five consecutive clinching tries as an ace from Alexy Alexanderian and a block from Taylor Saldana were part of a 5-0 run that brought the Pioneers within 24-21.
Oakwood, though, put down Providence’s surge with a winning kill from Theo Adams that delivered the visitors a 25-21 victory.
As for the second game, Oakwood (3-1) came out strong, once taking a 10-point lead before winning, 25-18.
“I guess I’m always disappointed with a loss, but I am happy with how we played as a team,” said Saldana, who was named to the all-tournament team. “Considering half our team is missing and a lot of guys that we had playing with us were from JV, it could have been worse.”
One such junior varsity call-up was junior Justin Idian, who was also named to the all-tournament team.
“You want to finish first, but to finish in the top four is good,” Idian said. “This experience on varsity has been very exciting and I think a lot of guys are trying to prove they belong.”
Providence fell into the third-place match after dropping a 25-16, 25-21semifinal contest to St. Genevieve (3-2).
In that match, Idian tallied six kills and one block and Providence appeared en route to winning the second game as the Pioneers led the Valiants, 18-15, after a spike from Idian.
St. Genevieve responded with a 6-2 run in taking a 21-20 advantage on a Pioneers’ centerline violation.
While Providence pulled even at 21 on a kill from Jansen Nunez, the Pioneers surrendered the game’s last four points in falling.
As for the first game, St. Genevieve raced out to a 19-10 advantage and never looked back.
Saldana added three kills against St. Genevieve, while Grant Menke added two kills and a block.
Flintridge Prep took the overall championship as it defeated St. Genevieve, 25-16, 25-19 in the finals.
Flintridge Prep’s Dante Fregoso was named tournament MVP, while teammate Zack Picker, Oakwood’s Sam Eisner and St. Genevieve’s Rikki Young were also named to the Providence All-Tournament team.