Falcons swept from first round

Not knowing much about his team’s first-round opponent when the CIF Southern Section Division 2-A playoff pairings were released on Saturday, Crescenta Valley High girls’ volleyball Coach Jen Ku Lee hit the Internet to do some impromptu scouting.

The tape didn’t lie, as the sizable and skilled Adolfo Camarillo squad Lee viewed in video clips looked just as impressive in real life in handing the Falcons a quick exit from the postseason Tuesday night, 25-8, 25-12, 25-14.

“Just like the highlights, they were awesome,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jen Ku Lee said of the Pacific View League-champion Scorpions (21-6), who have now won 14 in a row. “They were running somewhat of a complex offense and our middles and our blocking scheme didn’t really cover that. [There were] a lot of kills for their opposite and their outside.”

After a 17-point defeat in the opening game, the Falcons (8-9) improved their scores in each subsequent game. They pulled off a five-point run on Camarillo’s match-point to get within 11 in the final stanza.

Kira Guarino led Crescenta Valley with 15 kills and five digs, while setter Payton Wheeler contributed 22 assists and two aces.

“The moment was kind of too big [for them],” Lee said of his team, which entered as the fourth-place team from the Pacific League. “We really have a young team.

“Overall, I’m very proud of my girls. At the end they gave it their all, even though it was futile.”