Marshall’s Quest for 3rd Straight 3-A Title Fails

Fairfax spoiled No. 1 seed Marshall’s quest for a third consecutive volleyball title, beating the Barristers, 4-15, 17-15, 15-13, 15-9, in the City Section 3-A Division Championship match at Cal State Northridge on Friday night.

The Barristers, who have reached the finals four years in a row, appeared out of a sync most of the night and were unable to handle the strong play of Kevin Lee and Alben Lasola.

Lee had 15 kills and eight blocks, while Lasola had 30 kills and 10 blocks to lead the Lions, the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.

After Marshall (16-2) soundly defeated the Lions in the first set, they jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the second set. But Fairfax (13-4) handed the Barristers their first set loss in four matches by outscoring them, 10-5.

Marshall had many opportunities to put the Lions away, but Cesar Jimenez could not set the ball for middle blocker Joe Manahan.

“We just couldn’t pass tonight,” said Marshall Coach Bob Avila. “We had a bad day passing and we let Faifax in.”

In the final set, Avila replaced Jimenez with Yin Chow, but Manahan could not adapt to the change.

“I guess (Avila) put (Chow) in because he’s faster,” said Manahan, who had 22 kills and 12 blocks. “But it didn’t work. I’m used to Cesar.”

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Marshall 3, Sylmar 0--Marshall struggled early in its semifinal match against Sylmar, but finished strong, winning 15-7, 15-11, 15-2 Tuesday at Marshall.

Middle hitter Joe Manahan led the Barristers with 15 kills and four blocks. Setter Cesar Jimenez had 23 of Marshall’s 24 assists. Matthew Holle contributed eight kills.

Sylmar kept the match close in the first game, but Marshall scored 10 of the last 12 points to break a 5-5 tie.

Marshall (16-1) looked confused in the second game and fell behind 8-4, then erupted with eight consecutive points to win the game. That seemed to wear out Sylmar (13-3) as Marshall dominated the final game to advance to its third consecutive City final and first under Coach Bob Avila.