First published in the Oct. 29 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
The Crescenta Valley High School varsity girls’ volleyball team was ousted from the CIF-SS Division V playoffs after losing in the quarterfinals at Buckley High in Sherman Oaks, 25-17, 25-19, 25-21.
It was a historic season for the Falcons, as the quarterfinal appearance was the first in recorded school history while they also claimed their first Pacific League title in two decades with a perfect 10-0 league record.
The Falcons previously swept host Cerritos, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18, in a second-round matchup.
Senior Nyra Tatoulian finished the campaign with a team-high 217 kills and 40 digs, while senior Jana Coffeen tallied a team-high 70 aces with 115 kills and 39 digs. Senior Hyacinth Ang amassed a team-high 452 assists with 106 digs, 35 aces and 30 kills, while sophomore Sofia Shin collected a team-high 362 digs, 50 aces and 16 assists. Senior Rory Solano registered 156 kills and 33 digs, sophomore Isabel Haytayan had 88 kills and 10 digs, and sophomore Caden Pinto posted 152 digs, 42 assists, 19 aces and 15 kills. Senior Aleen Derbarsegian had 124 assists, 47 digs and 18 aces, junior Natalie Avakian recorded 103 digs, and senior Autumn Parrott had 93 digs and 20 aces. Senior Natalie Andrias produced 24 digs and 21 aces, senior Mila Mucic had 29 kills, and senior Alexa Khosrovian finished with 21 kills, eight digs and eight aces. Senior Jenna Patel had 22 kills and five aces, while senior Catalina Clark-Reed and sophomore Eva Portnaya each had 17 kills.
CVHS (30-10 overall record) has 11 seniors leaving after this academic year. Despite graduating a majority of the varsity roster, the Falcons will attempt to repeat and build off their historic season as they look to defend their league title.
GLENDALE
As Glendale assistant coach Bill Whiting put it, “All good things come to an end.”
That was the case for the Nitros after their fine season came to a finish with a CIF-SS Division VII second-round loss at San Gabriel, 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, last Saturday.
Glendale suffered a blow to its starting rotation when its top outside hitter, sophomore Aleina Manaois, left the match due to injury. She finished with 16 kills, five digs and two aces in just two-and-a-half sets. Junior Arianna Vargas collected 12 digs, five kills and two aces kills, sophomore Emmi Whiting tallied 18 assists and six digs, and senior Vanya Arakelian recorded 11 digs and a pair of aces.
Glendale, which finished third in the Pacific League standings with a 6-4 record (24-12-1 overall), has a young core returning to the court next season with hopes of improving on this year’s success. The Nitros will graduate seven seniors, including Arakelian, Jana Cooper, Annahie Escamilla, Rosie Escobar, Natalia Hrayer, Nicole Parsegian and Sofia Safarian.
