La Canada Survives With Stately Victory

Some thought La Canada High would be history in the first round of the state girls’ volleyball playoffs.

Instead, the Spartans created some history.

La Canada won a state playoff match for the first time, defeating Tollhouse Sierra, 15-8, 15-10, 15-7, Tuesday in the Division III Southern regional.

What made the victory more impressive was that the unseeded Spartans (24-3) won on the road against fourth-seeded Sierra (16-4).

“We were all kind of exhausted from the bus ride [to Sierra], but we were not going to lose,” said outside hitter Kelly Gaudino. “We didn’t want to go home and be upset for five hours on the way back. We were determined to win.”

La Canada last played in the state playoffs in 1996, losing to Bakersfield Stockdale in the first round.

The Spartans’ travels are not finished.

They play at top-seeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery (29-3) in a semifinal match Saturday night.

La Canada was swept by Bishop Montgomery last week in a Southern Section Division III-AA semifinal.

USC-bound Katie Olsovsky is the higher-profile player for Bishop Montgomery, but middle blocker Cerina Pele has been playing well recently. Pele had 17 kills and four blocks in the III-AA sectional final last week against Harvard-Westlake.

“We have nothing to lose,” Gaudino said. “Going around the second time, we know so much more about them. We’re not afraid of them.”

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Another bus ride--that of Oakhurst Yosemite--ended with a different result Tuesday, a loss to Harvard-Westlake in a first-round Division III match.

But the Badgers’ trip wasn’t wasted.

The team, which stayed overnight after the match, stayed in the same Studio City hotel as Willie Nelson. Several team members who approached Nelson were given guitar picks by the country singer.

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Sylmar was swept away by Palisades, but the future wasn’t.

Coach Bob Thomson is already looking ahead to next year despite the Spartans’ three-game loss in the City Championship final last week.

Four starters return for Sylmar (15-2), including junior opposite hitter Stephanie Cisneros, the Valley Mission League player of the year.

“We were right there [against Palisades],” Thomson said. “We were serving to win the third game. If we get that point, who knows? We have a lot to look forward to.”

Similarly, Chatsworth and La Reina should rebound next season.

La Reina (20-1), which lost in the second round of the Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs, returns middle blocker Jennifer Ryan and outside hitter-setter Ashlie Hain, both juniors.

Chatsworth (14-1) lost in the first round of the City Championship playoffs, but middle blocker-outside hitter Linda Wang, a sophomore, and outside hitter Leila Pate, a junior, will be back.

“How could we not be happy with the season?” said Coach Bud Dow of Chatsworth. “There’s only one team that finished without a loss in the City. We might have finished a week earlier than expected, but 14-1 is still a great season.”

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The Top 10

Rankings of region volleyball teams

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RK LW School (League) Rec. 1 1 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 25-6 2 2 Westlake (Marmonte) 19-7 3 3 Royal (Marmonte) 23-9 4 4 La Canada (Rio Hondo) 24-3 5 5 La Reina (Tri-Valley) 20-1 6 6 Sylmar (Valley Mission) 15-2 7 7 Buena (Channel) 12-8 8 8 Valencia (Foothill) 17-3 9 9 Chatsworth (West Valley) 14-1 10 10 Oxnard (Pacific View) 15-6

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