Flintridge Prep girls’ volleyball swept by San Marino

SAN MARINO — Expect the Flintridge Prep girls’ volleyball team to be a work in progress for at least the first half of the season.

With just two returning starters, Flintridge Prep Coach Sean Beattie has spent the first two weeks of the season searching for lineup combinations while also having his players learn on the fly after losing eight players to graduation.

“It’s a little rough right now,” said Beattie, whose team suffered a 25-17, 25-21, 25-14 nonleague road loss against San Marino on Monday. “We are trying to find a couple of capable Nos. 2-3 hitters who can help Dani [Motte] out.

“We need to get some more offensive input from some of the others. We’ve gotten better defensively, but we still need some more work there, too.”

Flintridge Prep (1-2) received eight kills from Motte, a junior outside hitter, and 10 digs from sophomore libero Lauren Stiles. San Marino (3-0) got 13 kills from Mabel Cootauco and 28 assists from Nicole Wang.

Beattie said the Rebels, who didn’t qualify for the postseason after finishing tied for sixth in the Prep League last season, showed signs of improvement in the second game.

“I thought there were quite a few positives to take from the second game,” said Beattie, who guided the school’s boys’ team to a league championship last season. “Our middle blockers touched a lot of balls and we were able to get some blocks.

“It’s a brand new team that we have and it’s just going to take some time to learn and improve. Hopefully, we are playing up to our capabilities by the start of league. We want to be able to build from there and keep it going into next year.”

Sophomore setter Talia Yesseia contributed 10 assists for Flintridge Prep, which also received five kills from sophomore Tala Ismail.

Kaitlyn Corral finished with 25 digs for the Titans, who got 12 kills from Cherie Chow.

Flintridge Prep will next participate in another nonleague match at 5:30 p.m. against Immaculate Heart.