CRESCENTA VALLEYCOACH: John Nelson, 23rd year.LEAGUE: PacificLAST...
CRESCENTA VALLEY
COACH: John Nelson, 23rd year.
LEAGUE: Pacific
LAST SEASON: 11-15, 3-5 in league for fourth place. Did not qualify for playoffs.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Wes Cormier, senior, outside hitter; Ian Poprocki, senior, outside hitter; Vincent Van Hoek, senior, opposite hitter.
NELSON’S QUOTE: “Those are three pretty good sized, strong kids.”
FLINTRIDGE PREP
COACH: Sean Beattie, 15th year.
LEAGUE: Prep
LAST SEASON: 10-13, 4-4 in league, for third place. Lost to Vistamar, 25-13, 25-15, 25-16, in CIF Southern Section Division V quarterfinals.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Chad Cosse, junior, outside hitter; Mike Ellis, senior, defensive specialist; Kory Hamane, senior, outside hitter; Kareem Ismail, junior, middle blocker; Mike Lii, junior, setter.
BEATTIE’S QUOTE: “We graduated I want to say 12 of 15 [players last year], but we have a good core of young kids this year, so we are looking forward to it.”
GLENDALE
COACH: Ta’ase Mose, fourth year.
LEAGUE: Pacific
LAST SEASON: 2-10, 0-8 in league for fifth place. Did not qualify for playoffs.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Victor Bernardino, junior, setter; Josh Collado, junior, outside hitter; Kyle Hulguin, sophomore, opposite hitter.
MOSE’S QUOTE: “I have a lot of returners, so I will be OK this year. Most of our guys are juniors right now so hopefully next year we will make it to CIF, that’s my goal to move them closer this year.”
GLENDALE ADVENTIST ACADEMY
COACH: David Nicolas, first year.
LEAGUE: Liberty
LAST SEASON: 0-12, 0-14 in league, for sixth place. Did not qualify for playoffs.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Tanner Warrick, senior, setter.
NICHOLAS’ QUOTE: “It’s going to be a building year. I have a lot of first-year guys with good heart and a good work ethic. I think we will be OK this year.”
HOOVER
COACH: Charles Min, first year.
LEAGUE: Pacific.
LAST SEASON: Did not field team.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Christian Pacificador, junior, setter; Dan Sanidad, junior, hitter.
MIN’S QUOTE: “We want to instill pride in the program to where it’s competitive and make sure these kids have fun, but are working hard.”
ST. FRANCIS
COACH: Mark Frazee, 24th year.
LEAGUE: Mission
LAST SEASON: 8-10, 4-8 in league for fourth place. Did not qualify for playoffs.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Michael Bacall, senior, outside hitter; Thomas Banks, senior, defensive specialist; Wesley Coffey, senior, opposite hitter; Tyler Korzun, junior, middle blocker; Charles McCarthy, junior, outside hitter; Collin Peterson, senior, defensive specialist; Chris Thompson, junior, setter.
FRAZEE’S QUOTE: “We have a very good combination of everything. I don’t think another team can really exploit us anywhere after watching us. We are a pretty square team.”