College Update: Crescenta Valley High alumnus Coltrane Powdrill powering Cal Lutheran

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Coltrane Powdrill (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) Cal Lutheran basketball junior: The former All-Area Player of the Year had a somewhat prolific night Wednesday evening as his Kingsmen hosted Chapman University in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.

While Cal Lutheran (13-4, 4-4 in conference) fell, 86-82, in overtime to Chapman, maybe the most interesting sidebar was the number of times Powdrill was fouled.

The 6-foot-4 forward was sent to the free-throw line 23 times, sinking 20 baskets (87%). In comparison, the rest of the Kingsmen shot only eight combined free throws.

On the evening, Powdrill finished with 32 points and nine rebounds while playing a team-high 38 minutes.

The loss was a turnabout for the Kingsmen, who on the previous Saturday defeated Redlands at home, 71-69.

In that contest, Powdrill finished with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds and was a happy spectator when teammate Arik Smith drained a game-winning three-pointer as time expired and only seven seconds after Redlands had just taken the lead on a three.

“We knew they could make shots so we were kind of prepared for them to hit something crazy like that,” Powdrill said in a postgame interview about Redland’s triple and his team’s response. “So we know that we have to stay together and stay calm and come back with assurance. We knew that Arik could hit that shot or that anyone of us could have. We had faith in each other.”

For the season, Powdrill averages a team-leading 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

While Cal Lutheran traveled to Whittier College on Saturday, Powdrill makes his closest area stop on Wednesday, as the Kingsmen travel to Occidental College for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Alexandra Barrett-Scherrer (Crescenta Valley High, 2008) Cal State Los Angeles soccer senior: At times it appeared as if the Golden Eagles were destined for a subpar 2013 season.

When the team started out the recently-concluded year with an 0-3-1 record, that could have been expected.

Yet, Cal State Los Angeles rebounded with an 8-2-2 mark to finish 10-6-3 overall, while falling to California Collegiate Athletic Assn. top-ranked Cal State Stanislaus, 3-2, in the conference tournament on Nov. 8.

Barrett-Scherrer was a mainstay of a huge program turnaround as the Eagles, who have struggled throughout most of their history, have posted a 62-23-15 mark over the last five years and concluded the season ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II West Region poll.

This season, the defensive midfielder played in 12 games, starting seven, including the Stanislaus match.

Cal State Los Angeles’ defense was strong with Barrett-Scherrer, as the squad only allowed more than one goal in three of those 12 games, while posting five shutouts.

Chris Cabrera (St. Francis High, 2010) Cal Lutheran football senior: The 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker recently capped a strong four-year run with the Kingsmen with one final accolade as Cabrera was named a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-team linebacker for a second straight year.

Cabrera was one of eight Cal Lutheran players selected, five of which were tabbed to either the first-team offense or defense.

The senior captain led Cal Lutheran (4-5, 4-3) with 52 tackles and also tallied 4.5 tackles for losses, one interception and one forced fumble.

Cabrera’s one interception came versus conference rival Whittier College in a 47-10 win on Nov. 2 in Thousand Oaks.

Overall, Cabrera ranked seventh within the conference with 38 solo tackles and ninth in tackles per game (7.6).

Jenna Orlandini (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2008) University of Washington volleyball senior: Perhaps the greatest women’s volleyball team in the history of the University of Washington was honored at a team banquet at Husky Stadium on Jan. 12.

Four seniors were particularly highlighted, including standout libero Orlandini.

It was announced at the social gathering that Orlandini tied former program legend Courtney Thompson for the most sets ever played in a career in school history with 450. Orlandini’s career total of 1,974 digs is also third-best in school history and the 12th-highest mark within the PAC-12.

The awards ceremony capped a season in which the Huskies won a third-ever PAC-12 title with a 30-3 mark (second-best in program history) and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the fourth time overall and first time since 2006.

For a while, Washington was also ranked No. 1 in the country in the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. Division poll for the first time since 2005.

Orlandini was a PAC-12 All-Academic honorable mention, an All-American honorable mention and an All-Pacific North Region Team selection.

For the season, Orlandini finished with 487 digs and 32 aces.