Volleyball: Tribune Top 10

The following time I learn a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to learn, however I truly thought youd have one thing interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you might repair if you happen to werent too busy in search of attention.

This is probably one of the best mentions of this topic I've seen in quite a while. It's obvious that your knowledge of the subject is deep and this made for a very interesting read.

This is probably one of the best mentions of this topic I've seen in quite a while. It's obvious that your knowledge of the subject is deep and this made for a very interesting read.

Anyone who witnessed last afternoon's St.Lucy's straight set 3-0 win over Alta Loma had better not forget that St.Lucy's has 2 setters and the other one was a dominant force throughout the match yesterday. Let's hope Frazier is not out long as she is just hitting her stride.

I have seen Upland and Saugus play. Upland is a well rounded team with some heavy hitters but Saugus has some of the best blocking and hitting on their team as well. Saugus may prevail due to overall size. There front line consist of a middle blocker who is 6'3 and outside hitters that appeared to be 6'1 and 6'2.

CIF Poll

http://www.cifss.org/sports_poll.php

Looks like Ganesha's Tri City Tourney has made a little difference in this weeks CIF poll. Walnut is up, Saugus is up, St. Lucy's down a little, Gabrielino, San Dimas, and Ganesha held their spots. Has anyone seen Saugus and Upland play? I'm curious how they would match up.

Another random thought...why doesn't the Trib pick up where the Times left off if they're not going to post stats. I love going home after a match and seeing stats for teams in the whole southern section listed, and it's all on one page. MaxPreps takes too long.

SG Volley,

I agree. SGV teams can not match up to the size and depth of the beach teams, which they always run into down the line. Last year's SL's team was way overmatched by a dominant Corona Del Mar team in the semi-finals, which I believe no SGV or inland teams made it out of. We can only watch some great match-ups during the regular season and hope for the best for CIF.

My bad in forgetting Callen's contributions. Has improved lots since I saw her last year.

SL Blocking Stats as follows: Your leader in blocking Callen (24); Dalton (10); Mercado (8); and Gasparo (3)I don't think your setter is out blocking your middle by a long shot but it is a definitely good for a setter.

I have heard the L.A. Times will not post volleyball results this year. Max Preps will be the best location to access info but many teams choose not to post their results and stats(their perogative).
St. Lucy's lost to Walnut last year too at the same tournament and finished the year fine. I see a lot of these teams in the valley beating eachother this year. The strength of valley teams will benefit them in CIF, however Im not sure I see any of them winning a CIF championship.

Max Preps/California shows stats. (Those that are records anyway)

The only stats we have from South Hills MB's is from the Tribune coverage. Melinda Gomez 20 kills in one game.

where are you seeing the South Hills stats?

Go DB!!!!!!!

After facing not much competition early on in the tournament, St. Lucy's was caught sleeping in some very tight games with a very good Walnut team, who in turn fell asleep against a determined Saugus team in a great final match-up. St. Lucy's will have some tough match-ups over the next two weeks aginst Upland and South Hills which will have them ready to roll through the Sierra league. Their biggest issue right now is lack of leadership and some inconsistent defensive play. Once they get all cylinders going, they should go deep into CIF.

vbl,

Los Altos has not beat anyone yet, but that is only because coach is not utilizing his strongest player (#15) enough. From what I have seen she is the third or fourth go to person to get a kill, however she almost always gets a kill. She has a hard hit and knows where to put the ball. They also go to her when they are down and need points. I understand that she was utilized a little more during Arcadia tournament, wish I could have been there.

With my previous comment i will say, NO doubt that when league comes , St.Lucys will indeed bring the heat as they always do. I do beleive this is the official yr where the parity in the Sierra League will really be evident.

Any predictions to the changes in next weeks top 10? Im just going off Max Preps and what has been posted here, so there may be some mistakes. Heres my opinion.
Charter Oak-in
Covina-out
Diamond Bar-up
Glendora-up
Bishop Amat-down
Top 2 stay the same
Should St. Lucy's stay at 3? They beat everybody but Walnut this week.
Does San Dimas stay in with some wins this week but a few losses too?
What to do with LA-they have to stay in the top 10, but who have the beaten?
Darkhorse-West Covina

Good volleyball in valley right now. Congrats to all the teams.

Patrick is correct in regard to SL being stoppable. In fact, their weak spots are blocking and defense. Aguilera can't do the job alone and while she is good she needs some help. Mercado is doing a great job of distributing the ball and can block with the best of them. Hitting is covered by any number of girls but all of them have had great,good, and bad matches so far---strength of the bench has saved them so far. Could be their loss to Walnut was because Coach didn't go to the bench early enough. South Hills knows this team and Coach Doyle does too now. Walnut is CIF bound for sure as is Diamond Bar. Saw them this weekend and they are a smart group of players.

It doesn't sound like any of those matches from the Arcadia tournament will be counted on the overall records. The upside to that is you get to play more teams in a smaller time frame.

One of the reasons the Ganesha Tri City Tourney fills up so quickly is because EVERY TEAM (24 total) is guaranteed 5 best of 5 matches. The only downside is that sometimes matches run over the time frame, but the format is approved by CIF and goes on every teams records. This was probably the best year in terms of quality teams and we hope it continues to improve. We believe it's a good tourney for all levels of play because after Thursdays pool play teams are matched in three playoff divisions. The silver division was also very competitive with the third place game of Crescenta Valley Vs. Covina going to five.

@Tribune reader,

Evidently they are stopable. They arent undefeated last time i checked.Isnt it kinda premature to throw the team out there like that this early in the season??

Dalton, Frazier, Miller, Gasparo,Mercado and Aguilera are the key players for SL. See the SL inthe CIF finals this yerar. Setter Mercado is smart and tall. With Gasparo and Mercado in the front, they are the twin towers for SL. With Frazier and Dalton there are no stopping them. Aguilera can did everything she is a remarkable player. Look for SL in the CIF.

Was every match in the Ganesha tournament 3 out of 5? (official matches)

Correction on DB vs LaSerna score...

Diamond Bar 25-20

Diamond Bar won the Gold Division Championship...

wins over..

Granite Hills 25-18
Arcadia 25-18
LaSerna 15-20

Pool Play
California 25-10; 21-25 (split)
Archer 25-8 ,25-21
Temple City 25-9, 25-15

The Ganesha Tourney Finals were exciting. Saugus beat Walnut in 5 (15-10) with many amazing rallies. Digs and attempts were off the charts. St. Lucy's took 3rd (24 teams) Gabrielino 4th, Estancia 5th, West Covina 6th, Canyon (Canyon Country) 7th, Ganesha 8th, San Dimas Silver Champ 9th, AB Miller 10th, not sure about the rest. Fun tourney with good teams and great people. The Giants thank all participants and spread the word!

I missed the Arcadia tournament. Does anyone know how Los Altos did? Who won the tournament?
cneal

Championship match between Walnut and Saugus was going to 5!! Two really good teams who deserved to be in the finals. Walnut's defense was way too much for St. Lucy's last night. Their libero covers alot of court!
SL beat Gabrielino easily in 3 with everyone playing.

Ghigh tournament update please

cneal,

your absolutly right, the setter for LA keeps going to the same hitter and is telegraphing it. There are acutually 3 hitters that were all league last year either 1st team or 2nd team. They also have another player that got a lot of playing time last year that can hit pretty well. DeLaVara better get it right before league or it will be a long year.

I missed the La Habra game but they are always strong.

After watching Los Altos play St. Lucy's and then La Habra I believe the real problem is not age the younger girls seem to be more athletic and stronger than the older girls. The real issue here is that the ball is not being filtered to the strong hitters. DeLaVara has two strong hitters on the team and one is only being utilized minimally.

I wish Ganesha girls had been playing volleyball before high school. Over half the Varsity squad never played on a sports team until high school, nor do they have any club experience (except for two sophomores who played for Club West). They love the game though and at times have played at a pretty high level.

St. Lucy's games were total blow-outs with second & third string players winning games by 14. Not sure if I could say one player stood out, but Freshman Jasmine Warmington definitely made her presence known with some great plays. They should see stronger competition over the next two days.

With all the comments centering on how young some of these teams are...I don't think you can equate youth with inexperience. Many of these girls have been playing a very high level of vb since they were 9 or 10 years old and with very competitive and selective clubs. If you look at the varsity rosters this year, I think you'll find more freshmen playing than in previous years. I think we can all count on having some very competitive and intense play for the next 4 years!!!

Estancia may be new to the Gold division but they have been in that tournament for at least 3 years. They were in the same pool as Walnut last year. They are good and may be a dark horse to win the whole thing.

It's mainly seeded in pool play. There was an error made with Canyon playing Saugus possibly in the semi's (same league)(Canyon is new, Estancia is new) and the Walnut-St. Lucy's matchup. Nobody is perfect, but still lots of quality opponents. We'll keep that in mind for next year.

Last nights St.Lucy's matches were highlighte by the play of seniors Allie Schuman and Tara Prater as well as Deana Dalton and contributions from almost all team members.

vballer,
How did Glendora do in their scrimmage against South Hills?

You seeded the tournament and you have Walnut and St. Lucy's possibly meeting in the semis? Who are the top two seeds then? Those were the finalists last year right?

sgvolley,

Some may think they are young but they have 5 players that played big roles for them last year with 4 of them in one way or another all league selections.

St.Lucy's advanced to the quartfinals at Ganesha H.S with two 3-0 victories over Chaffey and Covina H.S.'s respectively. Next up I believe is Ganesha H.S. at Ganesha H.S. Coach Douglas mainly played his younger players to give them experience and confidence.

St.Lucy's advanced to the quartfinals at Ganesha H.S with two 3-0 victories over Chaffey and Covina H.S.'s respectively. Next up I believe is Ganesha H.S. at Ganesha H.S. Coach Douglas mainly played his younger players to give them experience and confidence.

Glendora had an amazing game tonight against Hart HS and showed some real spark that could very well take the sierra league.

St. Lucy's, West Covina, Ganesha, Estancia, Saugus, Canyon, Gabrielino, and Walnut all made it to the Gold Division of Ganesha's Tri City Tourney. The tournament is seeded, but it's always hard to tell at this time of the season. I believe St. Lucy's will meet Walnut tomorrow night in the semifinals if both win in the quarterfinals. We know Ganesha will be overmatched against St. Lucy's, but we'll enjoy the competition.

Isn't LA pretty young this year? That could be a major factor that they are slightly down. But almost beating St.Lucy's is not bad at all.

Went to the St. Lucy's game and came out very disappointed with the LA team. I know they lost some players but they supposedly have 4 all league selections back this year. DeLaVara does not have them focussed or physically ready to play. They were dead at the end. They went up 2-0 on the Regents but could not finish it.

After loosing some key players from last year the Regents look to be reloading again. They are strong every year.

Watch out for Charter Oak, they should be in the top ten next week. They have beaten Gabrilleno and Westridge.

This looks like it is going to be a fun season to watch.

Predictions for Tri-City tournament? Walnut vs St. Lucy's in the final again? Is the tournament seeded?

I have seen some of the players at Charter Oak in Club tournaments last season and i do know they can play the game of volleyball. They will be a factor in their league. This week's Ganesha tournament will start to clear out some of the have and have nots.

Amat defeated Ontario Christian in 3- 0 not allowing OC to reach 20. South Hills vs Amat @ Amat this Thursday. Should be a great game.

Patrick-no offense taken. I have not see CO play so I am trying to figure out if they are for real or not. What I meant is that Im sure they will be ranked if they are undefeated and already beat San Dimas who was ranked in CIF and locally.Like you, I was asking if anyone thinks they can beat the top level teams in the valley. GHigh is on the bandwagon. Not me.

No offense, Patrick, but the highest ranked team according to CIF in the SGV is Bonita and they just lost. Who do you consider a "real" ranked team? Mira Costa?

@Sgvolley,no offense, but what makes you so sure CO will beat any real top ranked opponents?

I haven't seen Los ALtos or Bonita, I just know that CO is well balanced and experienced. I'll have a better idea after I see St. Lucy's on Friday since they beat Los Altos in five.

Does CO have a legit chance to beat LA or Bonita?

You're right about just two set format. I thought you meant two out of three. Covina did lose at Gladstone to an excellent Westridge team, I believe.

Thanks for the clarification. I'll stay on CO's bandwagon until they lose a match. I think they will do well in league, but it's always an uphill battle with Bonita and Los Altos.

Tougher opponents meaning locally ranked opponents. I dont think he can move anyone out of the top 10 that hasn't loss yet. Now that CO beat San Dimas next week they Im sure they will be in there.
Clarification. Some tournaments are two set format in pool play. Teams cannot count those games on their overall record even if they win 2-0. Also in tournament playoffs some sets are 1 game to 25 those obviously wont count on official records either.

GHigh Para Siempre,

The rankings are for matches played through Sept. 13. I thought about dropping Covina out and moving in Charter Oak, but I don't think Covina played their way out just yet. Charter Oak's win over San Dimas, though, will carry a lot of weight for next week

Charter Oak needs to beat tougher opponents? The Gladstone tourney had Big Bear (#4 in Div. IV-A), Westridge (#8 in Div. III-A), Gabrielino (#5 in Div. III-A) and they beat San Dimas (#7 In Div. III-A). All matches were best out of five. Oh, Matches that are two out of three sets in tournaments DO COUNT according to CIF. As for Rip Van Winkle-continue sleeping and stay off the sight.

CO will be moving up as they beat more quality opponents.
I think teams are including the Sept 9 games on their record and correct me if I am wrong but those were scrimmages. CIF doesn't recognize those (or two set tournament games for that matter) on official records.

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FYI-Charter Oak is undefeated, one the Gladstone tourney, and beat San Dimas on Monday-but still not mentioned. St. Lucy's, San Dimas, Walnut, and Covina will face off in Ganesha's Tri City Tourney starting Thursday.

Last nights battle between Los Altos and St.Lucy's went 5 games with St.Lucy's coming back from a 0-2 games deficit to take 3 straight games to win the match. A very competitive match between 2 teams that are closely matched, however St.Lucy's overall bench strength prevailed as the Los Altos starters became somewhat tired towards the end of the match. A very good High School Volleyball match.

Walnut beat Brea Olinda in four close games tonight. They beat Western Christian in a scrimmage last week as well.

sierra league is going to be extremely competitive as usual this year, between St. Lucy's D-Bar and Glendora it should be quite the battle, i look forward to seeing score and more ARTICLES on sierra league teams.