Poly, Sylmar Feel Right at Home

The City Section probably could have saved a lot of time and effort and just staged the 3-A Division volleyball final at Poly High on Thursday.

Both the top-seeded Parrots and second-seeded Sylmar, the defending champion, opened the playoffs there and had little difficulty disposing of their first-round opponents.

Poly, champion of the Valley Pac-8 Conference, dispatched 16th-seeded Washington, 15-5, 15-4, 15-3, in a match that lasted only 35 minutes.

Junior outside hitter Gaby Gallardo had 10 kills for the Parrots (12-2), who won their fifth straight since losing to Sylmar three weeks ago in five games.

Teammate Alma Delin had seven service aces, while Adina Mori added 25 assists.

Valley Pac-8 runner-up Sylmar, vying for its third City title in four seasons, beat No. 15 Gardena, 15-3, 15-5, 15-7, also in Sun Valley.

The Spartans (11-3), forced to play at Poly because of ongoing gymnasium refurbishing at their own school, received nine kills from Kassandra Jimenez and seven kills and six digs from Mayra Villalobos.

Nancy Ariza added five kills and three aces.

In other 3-A first-round matches:

Hamilton d. Reseda, 7-15, 15-11, 15-8, 15-10--Mellissa Thomas and Ninfa Paredes each had four kills and the 11th-seeded Regents (4-10) won the first game, but then fell at Hamilton.

Paredes also had two aces and Thomas had one. Reseda held a 7-4 advantage in the second game before Hamilton (9-5) rallied.

Sasha Shell had nine kills and Kirbi Kaleem added eight for sixth-seeded Hamilton, which has won five consecutive matches.

The Yankees also got five blocks and five aces by Enika Fluellen.

N. Hollywood d. Fairfax, 15-12, 16-14, 9-15, 13-15, 15-7--Leslie Lima had 13 kills and 13 assists to pace the Huskies (10-4) to a home victory.

North Hollywood’s Ashley Fargeon added nine kills and 22 assists.

4-A DIVISION

Granada Hills d. Bell, 15-10, 15-2, 15-5--Michelle Verrucci had 21 kills and 13 blocks to help the second-seeded Highlanders (12-1) to a home victory.

Granada Hills’ Jennifer Kim contributed 17 digs while Gina Karabogias added 38 assists.

Westchester d. El Camino Real, 3-15, 15-8, 15-12, 15-7--Middle blocker Cherisse Meichtry had 11 kills and six blocks and Annie Scipioni had 23 assists and five aces, but the 10th-seeded Conquistadores (8-5) lost at Westchester.

Roosevelt d. Taft, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4--Kyle Brown had seven kills for the Toreadors (3-10) but it wasn’t enough against the top-seeded Roughriders at Roosevelt.

Venice d. Kennedy, 15-1, 15-2, 15-5--Dasha Bautzka had 10 kills and Holly Kuhn had 15 assists, but the 13th-seeded Golden Cougars fell at Venice.

Ligia Gomez had seven digs and Heather Valisky had two aces for Kennedy.

Becky Tripp collected 18 kills and 15 digs and Kelly Speckman had nine kills and seven blocks for the fourth-seeded Gondoliers (12-2).

Jessica Quiroz had 30 assists and four kills and Khemarak Koeut added five kills and six digs.

Garfield d. Chatsworth, 15-9, 15-11, 15-13--The ninth-seeded Chancellors held a 7-2 lead in game two and a 10-5 lead in the third game, but lost at Garfield.

Rebecca Romero had 10 kills for No. 8 Garfield, which advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since winning the 3-A title in 1989.