Prolific season for Crescenta Valley High boys’ volleyball comes to second-round close

CANYON COUNTRY — Crescenta Valley High’s boys’ volleyball team suffered from some inconsistent play Thursday in its CIF Southern Section Division II second-round playoff match against Canyon Country Canyon.

While the Falcons had their problems in the first and third games, they were able to squeeze in a fine effort in the second game against the host Cowboys.

Crescenta Valley appeared to have regained its form in the fourth game, as it looked to force a winner-take-all fifth set. Although the score was close late in the fourth, Canyon was able to mount a push, winning the contest, 25-17, 19-25, 25-16, 25-21, and ending the season for the Falcons.

The loss for Crescenta Valley (26-7), which finished second in the Pacific League, ends one of the most productive seasons in program history.

“This is the most wins that we’ve had in a year, it’s the highest win percentage that we’ve had in a year, we have never been ranked in Division II and we were this season and I don’t think we’ve ever been to the second round of the playoffs in Division II,” Crescenta Valley Coach John Nelson said. “So, with all that, this team can claim to be the best that we’ve ever had or at least the most successful team we’ve ever had.

“Hopefully the guys can walk away from this and maybe in a day or two look back and realize all that they were able to accomplish.”

After an emotional five-game victory two days earlier against South Torrance in the first round of the playoffs, the Falcons didn’t look particularly sharp in Thursday’s opening game against Canyon (29-6), the runner-up from the Foothill League. The score was tight early before the Cowboys went on a 4-0 run and surged ahead, 11-7. Crescenta Valley got the lead down to three, 12-9, following a kill by Min Kim(22 kills), but the Cowboys powered ahead with an 8-4 run to increase their advantage to 19-11 and were able to cruise the rest of the way.

The Falcons were able to gain the momentum midway through the second game. Crescenta Valley went in front, 13-12, on a kill from Ray Barsemian (14 kills). While the Cowboys remained within striking distance, the Falcons distanced themselves with a 6-0 run that gave them a 21-13 lead. Crescenta Valley closed out the game to tie things, 1-1.

But the Falcons couldn’t keep up the momentum in the third game, as Canyon took a 12-4 lead on zero unforced errors. The Cowboys increased the advantage to 16-8 with just two unforced errors. They ended the game with four unforced errors.

“In that second game, I thought we played pretty good. We had high energy and we were working well together,” Kim said. “But after that, things started to slowly go bad for us and we couldn’t get out of that.

“We really didn’t pick each other up like we should have and I think that also hurt us. We really didn’t play our best.”

The fourth game proved to be the most tightly contested. Neither team was able to take more than a two-point advantage until late into the stanza. Crescenta Valley received a kill from Barsemian to get to within one of Canyon, 21-20. However, the Cowboys then embarked on the biggest run of the game, taking the next three straight points to put them at match-point, 24-20. Following a Falcons’ kill from Kim, Canyon closed it out with a kill.

“Canyon is good, like I thought they were,” Nelson said. “We just couldn’t quite break their machine. We did in that second set, but the rest of the time we were a little off and we struggled with some things. But those things happen sometimes.”