La Cañada High girls’ volleyball can breathe easier after win

LA CAÑADA — Taylor Page has taken a new approach before stepping to the service line.

It’s a technique that the La Cañada High girls’ volleyball player recently adopted and it helped her tremendously Tuesday.

“I’ve learned that you don’t want to over think your serving, so I’ve just been taking a deep breath before each serve,” said Page, who finished with a team-high six aces to propel host La Cañada to a 25-18, 25-10, 25-22 Rio Hondo League win versus Temple City. “It’s helped me get my serve in and things have gotten a lot easier.

“It’s all about establishing your mindset and trying to get a flow going.”

La Cañada improved to 8-12, 5-1 in league. Temple City dipped to 6-6, 2-4. The Spartans, who won their 10th league championship in a row last season before advancing to the CIF Southern Section Division II-A semifinals, posted a 25-19, 25-18, 25-12 road win against Temple City on Oct. 3.

Page’s best display of serving came in the second game, when she registered three aces. The Spartans finished the match with 16 aces, including five from Leigh Sclafani.

“Getting a league wins always means a lot,” said Page, who contributed eight kills. “We know we can get some momentum the rest of the way.”

The Spartans received a balanced offensive attack. Jenna Gray finished with nine kills for the Spartans, who got six kills apiece from Megan Arnold and Haley Miller.

La Cañada Coach Brock Turner said the Spartans were determined to improve their serving.

“You’ve got to serve teams tough to get them out of their rhythm,” Turner said. “We had 11 serving errors, but we think that’s something we can try to cut in half.

“Our best work with serving came in the second game. We are still a work in progress. We are still working on how to finish in different areas. We are heading in the right direction.”

La Cañada took a 12-9 lead in the first game on an ace by Arnold. The Spartans closed out the opening game on an ace by Sclafani.

In the second game, the Spartans jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Page had three aces in that stretch to ignite La Cañada. A kill by Arnold closed out the second game.

The Spartans never trailed in the third game. An ace by Page made it 5-0 before an ace from Sclafani extended the advantage to 14-6. The Rams closed to within 23-22, but the Spartans completed the sweep on a kill by Page.

La Cañada will next participate in a first-place league road match against South Pasadena at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.