Oh, snap!
Earlier this year, Redondo Union got the better of Mira Costa, 25-23, 25-23, during tournament play in Hawaii at the Ann Kang Invitational. The good times continued on Tuesday for the Sea Hawks (9-3), when they swept Mater Dei at home to snap the Monarchs’ 28-match winning streak, which started early in September of 2023. OH Abby Zimmerman, a Cal recruit and the daughter of former Mira Costa head coach and AVP star Lisa Arce led the way with 13 kills. Libero Addi Junk contributed 14 digs.
Mater Dei started this season 4-0, including good wins over Newport Harbor and San Clemente, despite playing without its vaunted outsides Layli Ostovar (resting shoulder) and Westley Matavao (transfer). Both are expected to be ready by mid-September.
Rally for the tally
Undefeated Huntington Beach rallied from down two sets to one to upend home-standing Santa Margarita Catholic in five sets on Tuesday in a clash of top 10 California teams. The Oilers got a combined 33 kills from Addison Williams and Ellie Esko in the win, with effective play as well from Taylor Ponchak and Olivia Foye.
The win was No. 500 in the coaching career of Craig Pazanti, including No. 350 at Huntington Beach. Pazanti previously coached at Mater Dei.
Pazanti is one of six active coaches we know about with 500 wins in the Golden State. Bret Almazan-Cezar at Rocklin, Cari Klein of Marymount, Redondo Union’s Tommy Chaffins, Maria Collatz of Stockdale, and Chris Crader of Palo Alto are the others.
Have we missed any? Undoubtedly! Email jtawa@cifstate.org with additional coaches in the 500-win club, so that we may give them due recognition.
Gnarly waves, dude!
The Kamehameha Labor Day Classic started yesterday in Honolulu, with 38 teams participating. Twenty made the trek across the Pacific from California, including five ranked in the statewide top 25. All five, No. 4 Marymount, No. 11 Cathedral Catholic, No. 17 San Marcos of San Marcos, No. 21 Westview, and No. 23 South Torrance, completed their opening pools undefeated. Cathedral Catholic’s first match was against Canyon Crest Academy. The two San Diego schools are located less than a mile apart.
Francis Parker, No. 18 in the South Region, also went undefeated. South Region No. 22 Village Christian was 2-1. It lost to the host school while beating Central Region No. 14 Centennial of Bakersfield, which also was 2-1. Central Region No. 12 Bakersfield Christian was 2-1, losing only to San Marcos. Cypress has a strong 2-1 start, losing only to national powerhouse Cornerstone Christian of San Antonio.
The tournament continues through Saturday. Pool Blue D today should bring fireworks, with Francis Parker, San Marcos, Village Christian, and Cypress. Don’t be surprised if tiebreakers are involved…
About the statewide top 25…
Yesterday, CIF State released its first 2024 rankings that included both the statewide top 25 and three Region rankings of 25 teams. You can find them here:
https://www.cifstate.org/sports/girls_volleyball/notebook/list.
You may be wondering how two-loss Mira Costa ascended to the top spot in the state top 25 this week. The Mustangs had a good week, defeating last week’s No. 2, Marymount and No. 1 Torrey Pines, both in four sets. Couple those wins with Marymount’s five-set win over Redondo Union, the lone California team to defeat Mira Costa this year; and that’s how Costa finds itself in the top spot.
The rest of the top five is No. 2 Torrey Pines, No. 3 Huntington Beach (the biggest riser in the rankings and the only still-unbeaten team in the top five after its win over Santa Margarita Catholic), No. 4 Marymount, and No. 5 Redondo.
Outside the top five, there wasn’t much movement in the state rankings, in part because four teams had yet to start their seasons, and virtually everyone else winning their matches.
Centennial of Corona has started 9-4 but has yet to lose to a California team
Two teams did drop from the rankings. Last week’s No. 22 Centennial of Corona ran into trouble against top Hawaii teams. No. 23 Saugus (12-1) lost a four-set decision to Village Christian.
JSerra Catholic, on the strength of its revenge win over Aliso Niguel, was set to enter the top 25, but the Lions lost on Wednesday at home to Etiwanda. That allowed for Carondelet, which rallied to beat Marin Catholic in a reverse sweep in its opener; and Christian Brothers of Sacramento to join the party.
Looking at results last night from the state top 25…
Sierra Canyon is one of three unbeaten teams in the state top 10 after getting by Oaks Christian yesterday
The top 25 was very busy last night. Six teams – Huntington Beach, Redondo Union, Palos Verdes, Branson, Newport Harbor, and Carondelet – were idle but the rest of the group combined to go 26-2. The teams that lost, No. 6 Mater Dei and No. 13 Oaks Christian, fell to higher-ranked teams. Mater Dei, the reigning CIF Open Division champions, lost for the second straight match, this time to No. 2 Torrey Pines. Oaks was swept in three competitive sets by No. 10 Sierra Canyon. The Trailblazers got a combined 34 kills from Eva Jeffries and Hanna McGinest in the win. Lauren Lynch added 22 digs and Olive Shum contributed a whopping 44 assists and seven digs.
Elsewhere, Archbishop Mitty, St. Mary’s of Stockton, and Saint Ignatius all won season openers in sweeps over strong opponents. Mitty took care of Los Gatos, St. Mary’s got by Vacaville and SI used a strong right-side attack to power past Marin Catholic at home.
No. 8 Rocklin, the highest-ranked team in the north, won again. The Thunder got 10 kills each from Gianna Bogan and Addy Scheitlin in sweeping Woodcreek.
Last but not least, Christian Brothers backed up its inclusion in the top 25 this week by sweeping tough Folsom behind a dozen kills from Kemyah Harris, 19 assists from Grace Carollo, and a strong six-rotation effort from Simone Huarte.
Players of the Week honors go to…
Here are three players recognized by local papers this week as their Players of the Week:
Sadie Kocur, junior OH, Oaks Christian – Kocur led the Lions in kills and aces in wins over Village Christian and San Marcos of Santa Barbara.
Emma Rowell, senior setter, South Torrance – Rowell was a force for the champion Spartans at the Tesoro Varsity Classic. The Northeastern University recruit’s play also helped South secure a spot in the statewide top 25…
Dakota Zieman, senior OH, Ontario Christian – Zieman, who aspires to be a commercial pilot, was grounded late in her junior year by a dislocated ankle but has come back better than ever in 2024. She is averaging 4.4 kills and 3.1 digs per set for the Knights and earned Inland Empire POY honors after a 21-kill, 20-dig performance in a five-set win over Redlands.
News and notes…
Centennial of Corona dropped from the statewide top 25 after placing sixth at the Hawaii Volleyball Invitational. The Huskies lost four matches in the tournament, all to top Hawaiian teams.
Centennial returned to the mainland with a win over Chaparral, “applying the newfound Hawaiian defense with our dominant offense,” said head coach Joe Schnake.
During the Chaparral match, sophomore setter Londyn Neal topped 1,000 assists for her career. Two other Huskies, Asia Udo-Ema (500 career kills) and libero Mckenna Giles (600 career digs) also recently set marks.
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Before Tuesday, Murrieta Valley and Ontario Christian had played 19 matches between them, with seven coming down to a deciding set. So it should surprise no one that this week’s matchup also went the distance, with Murrieta Valley taking the final two sets to pull out the win. Miley Thunstrom and Ryleigh Short teamed for 42 kills in the win for the Nighthawks.
By the way, Ontario Christian (9-2) took the court one day later against Rancho Cucamonga. This match, again, went the distance, only this time Ontario Christian prevailed, 16-14 in the fifth….
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Etiwanda’s 8-1 start included a 3-1 road win over vaunted JSerra Catholic on Tuesday. Lauren Furnald and Nina Hemsley teamed for 31 kills in the win for the Eagles, who earlier won the Mountain View Invitational without playing with Hemsley on the final day. Brooke Hansen, a senior setter committed to Cal Poly, was named MVP of the Invitational, which was a five-team round-robin.
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James Logan’s 6-1 start to 2024 includes a third-place finish at the Vegas Classic last weekend. The Colts lost in Sin City only to Marina of Huntington Beach. Junior OH McKenzie Anderson made the All-Tournament team for James Logan, which also got nice work from junior setter Leann Jung, freshman OH Chelsea Branley, and junior libero Emma Tran.
James Logan, which is ranked No. 21 in the North Region this week, followed up last night by outlasting North Region No. 25 Foothill of Pleasanton, the defending North Coast Section Div. 1 champion, in five sets, 15-13 in the fifth. The Colts trailed two sets to one before rallying behind 18 kills and 37 digs from Anderson and 35 assists, 12 digs, seven kills, and two aces from Jung.
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Crescenta Valley is looking strong after winning the Pasadena Polytechnic Tournament to start the year
Crescenta Valley has started the year strong, going 10-1, including a season-opening championship at the Pasadena Polytechnic Tournament. Libero Sofia Shin and setter Caden Pinto have been leading the way for the Falcons.
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Cabrillo of Long Beach has been an also-ran in the Moore League for years, but there is hope in Jaguar-land as the program has its largest freshman class in the past five years.
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Staying in the Long Beach area, St. Anthony has won two straight after a slow start. The Saints have a new coach, Kassidy Harrington, and will be relying on a strong sophomore class that includes OHs Brooke Jondle and Makayla Shepard, and MB Quinn Bell.
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Santa Fe was 15-15 last year with no seniors in the starting lineup. The Chiefs (9-1) opened 2024 with seven straight sweeps before losing to Downey in four on Aug. 20.
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Junior Kayleigh Solano is leading Chico in kills, is second in aces, and third in digs after 10 matches. The Panthers opened 8-1 before being swept by Davis on Wednesday.
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Bear River repeated as champion at its own tournament, the Bear River Varsity Invitational, going 4-0, all sweeps. Eden Cha had 34 kills over eight sets to lead the victorious Bruins, while Claire McDaniel contributed 21 kills and 17 aces.
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West Valley of Hemet has started the year 12-1, with tournament titles at the Mustang Kickoff and, last weekend, at the 24-team Rancho Verdes Tournament. The Mustangs’ best start in program history has been aided by Deonys Ioane, tournament MVP at the Kickoff; and Kamryn Hubbell, the Rancho Verde MVP.
One other West Valley note: the volleyball team has three pairs of sisters on varsity for the first time ever. On Monday, head coach Shaun Pulsipher was able to put all six on the court at the same time.
West Valley's three sets of siblings saw the floor at the same time in a Monday match, creating special memories for all
“This was actually a really cool thing to see and to be a part of!” Pulsipher exclaimed.
The sisters are: Diana and Melanie Bravo, Deonys and Destiny Ioane, and MiaBella and Sadie DePhillippo.
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State-ranked Newport Harbor has opened the season 4-1. The Sailors swept the much-improved Marina of Huntington Beach behind 20 kills and 14 digs from sophomore Ella Olson and 16 kills from freshman Piper Coady.
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Windsor dropped its opening match of the year to Tamalpais but has since won seven in a row. The Jaguars are No. 16 in this week’s North Region rankings.
“We have a core group of seniors that have started since they were sophomores leading the charge, along with a few young players filling in the pieces,” noted coach Christen Hamilton.
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After a challenging 2023 season, Harvard-Westlake made it into the first South Region rankings at No. 20 following a 7-1 start.
Lauryn Lewis and Kylie Parker are fueling the Wolverine offense, while ball control has benefited from the additions of Ashley Sakonju and Camy Zahiri. Sophia Jun, Maddie Hliboki, Alexa Liu, Maya Stillwell, and Sophia Cotter have all been key to HW’s strong start.
Yesterday, the Wolverines took on state No. 1 Mira Costa. Costa won the first set easily, but Harvard-Westlake was very competitive over the final two sets, a nice measuring stick for Mitch Kallick’s program.
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Orange Lutheran just won the OC Invitational hosted by Rosary. The Lancers went undefeated without dropping a set. Setter Marley Robinson was named tournament MVP.
OLu is No. 21 in the South Region rankings this week despite seven losses already, six of which came against top teams from Hawaii, Texas, and California (Mira Costa and Huntington Beach) in the season-opening Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii.
The Monterey-area pre-season rankings are out, with Harbor of Santa Cruz holding down the top spot. The next four, in order, are Salinas, Carmel, Santa Cruz, and Pacific Grove.
Harbor does not open its season until after Labor Day Weekend.
Season outlooks
In this part of the Notebook, we continue to look at the teams that completed pre-season forms with us at CIF State. While we invited more than 400 coaches to tell us about their teams this week, only three indulged us, bringing the total of published team outlooks to 193 since we began on Aug. 8.
Stevenson was ranked No. 7 in the Monterey top 10 after the Pirates went 21-5 last year and captured the Mission League title. Three starters have graduated from coach Skyler Allen’s team but both middles, Gina Da Silva and Lucia Marignac; and both outsides, Ava Edwards and Ashley Dalhamer return for the Pebble Beach school, which has a big senior class with great leaders and experience playing together.
St. Vincent de Paul College Prep has started 5-1 after winning only nine matches a year ago. Claire Ellis, a sophomore middle who missed her freshman year due to injury, has been a big boost to a Mustang lineup that returned almost all of its starting lineup, including setter Johana Stone and libero Presley Reavis.
Big Valley Christian was 24-13 in 2023 won its league and reached the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The Lions graduated two starters off of that team but have started 6-1 this year thanks to the strong work of senior Jordan Beers, last season’s kill leader averaging almost six kills per set in 2024. Big Valley Christian has five other seniors on the roster, returns assist leader Ella Allavezos, a junior; and has a freshman OH, Faye Dobson, who has stepped into the starting lineup and been very productive.
Santa Rosa has started 3-4 under new coach Brooklyn Jackson. The Panthers returned a lot of experience from last year’s 11-13 squad but needed to replace standout setter Rylee Ponce and both starting middles, who graduated. Strong defense, led by libero Sidney Smelser and DS Tessa Ponce, is a cornerstone of the team this year. Senior OH Sari Kehr also is a spark.
How to see YOUR SCHOOL in The Notebook
If you are a varsity head coach wondering how to have your team noticed, it takes two easy steps:
1) Enroll in our bulk email list at CIF State at this link: http://eepurl.com/hG-qTz. It only takes two seconds. Be sure to check your inbox (and spam folder) for weekly messages from us.
2) Complete and submit our season preview form at this link: https://johntawa.wufoo.com/forms/k1js7kyl02g8co4/
The summaries above represent only some of the completed forms we have received to date. We will include the others in next week’s Notebook and pledge to write about all teams that submit forms to us.
Thanks! Be back next week with more news and notes on volleyball in the Golden State…