L. A. Baptist Show Its Age in Comeback

To hear their coaches tell it, Village Christian and L. A. Baptist have the youngest group of girls volleyball players this side of a Pacific Palisades maternity ward.

“My team is young and inexperienced,” L. A. Baptist Coach Cindy Noblitt said before her team played Village Christian on Tuesday night. The Knights start two sophomores and four juniors.

“My team is very young,” Village Christian Coach Lisa Levoe said, referring to the three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman that start for the Crusaders.

But in the battle of the youngsters, L. A. Baptist showed its maturity in overcoming a 2-1 game deficit, 5-15, 15-8, 11-15, 15-7, 15-10, in an Alpha League match at Village Christian.

L. A. Baptist, ranked No. 6 in the Southern Section 1-A volleyball poll, improved to 11-2 overall, 7-2 in league play. Village Christian, the fifth-ranked team, dropped to 11-3, 5-3.

Juniors Michelle Christiansen and Bernie Verwey led L. A. Baptist with 17 and 10 kills, respectively. Christiansen and Verwey, both outside hitters, were the Knights’ catalysts in the last two games, serving and spiking almost every L. A. Baptist point.

“The two outside hitter really did it, no one else stood out,” Noblitt said.

No one else had to.

With L. A. Baptist ahead, 1-0, in the fifth game, Christiansen retaliated with three consecutive points by stuffing a Crusader hit, following it with her own spike and then blocking another.

Village Christian scored 10 of the next 15 points to take a 10-9 lead, but three Crusader miscues and an unreturnable serve by Verwey put L. A. Baptist ahead, 13-10. Another Christiansen stuff and a Verwey ace gave the Knights the match.

“That’s the way they’re supposed to be playing,” Noblitt said. “They can beat anybody if they’re playing their game.”

L. A. Baptist did not play like an unbeatable team initially. Numerous unforced errors by the Knights and a strong middle attack from Village Christian made the first game the quickest of the five. The Crusaders’ Heather Hepburn, a junior middle blocker who finished with six kills in the match, had three in the first game.

L. A. Baptist jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second game--difficult serves by Verwey produced four points--and coasted. Village Christian won the next game on the strong play of Hepburn and senior Karen Yoho, but L. A. Baptist took the last two for the victory.

“Their transition game was much better than ours,” Levoe said. “That’s where their experience comes in. We’re just a young team.”