First published in the Oct. 27 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
The La Cañada High School varsity girls’ volleyball team fell in the second round of the CIF-SS Division II playoffs at Aliso Niguel High in Aliso Viejo, 25-18, 25-15, 25-22, on Saturday.
The back-to-back undefeated Rio Hondo League champions previously swept visiting Norco, 25-13, 25-13, 25-19, in the first round of the CIF postseason last Thursday.
Sophomore Ashby Zubchevich led the team with 14 kills, junior Haley Clark collected nine kills and 10 digs, and senior Nikki Hughes finished with nine digs, seven kills, three blocks and two aces. Tatum Purdy racked up 30 assists, seven digs, one kill and one ace, junior Chloe Nussbaum tallied nine digs and three aces, and sophomore Katie McGuinness registered four blocks, two kills and one dig. Senior Rachael Salit had six digs and one ace, freshman Vani Tatoulian posted two kills, two blocks and two digs, and senior Kate Shaw recorded two aces.
The Spartans had a terrific season by finishing with a spotless 10-0 league record (31-7 overall). LCHS hasn’t lost a league match since 2019 and owns an 81-21 overall record since head coach Laura Browder took over that same year.
Hughes, who recently committed to the University of California, Riverside, ended her high school career by racking up a .392 attack percentage (300 kills) with 148 digs, 44 blocks and 40 aces.
“I didn’t really want to play in college for a while until my junior year when I went to a college camp with the volleyball club that I played for last year and that’s when coaches started contacting me and I said, ‘Maybe I do want to do this,’” Hughes said. “Even if you don’t believe you are good enough to play in college, you definitely can because there are so many schools at different levels. If you want to continue playing volleyball, there is definitely a school for you.”
Clark filled the stats sheet with a team-high 354 kills (.403 attack percentage), 202 digs, 44 aces, 41 blocks and 31 assists. Nussbaum produced team-high marks in aces (69) and digs (438) with 102 assists. Junior Tatum Purdy amassed a team-high 820 assists while adding 187 digs, 53 aces, 42 kills and 13 blocks. Zubchevich, who only played 51 regular-season sets due to the CIF transfer rule, posted a team-high .433 attack percentage (190 kills) with 83 digs, 15 aces and eight blocks. Salit registered a .364 attack percentage (111 kills) with 123 digs and 50 aces, while Shaw had a .385 attack percentage (30 kills) with 37 digs and 19 aces. Tatoulian recorded a team-high 61 blocks with 89 kills, 33 digs, 14 aces and 10 assists, while McGuinness tallied 52 blocks, 39 kills, 11 digs and six aces. Sophomore Danica Eggleston collected 122 assists, 38 digs, 18 aces and six kills, Emma Reed had 14 kills, six blocks, four digs and two assists, and junior Maya Dingle finished with 24 aces, 10 kills and nine digs.
La Cañada will look to defend its league title and make a deeper run in the postseason in next year’s campaign.
FLINTRIDGE SACRED HEART
The Tologs were eliminated in their CIF-SS Division III first-round opener at Torrance, 24-26, 25-17, 25-13, 21-25, 15-9, last Wednesday.
Senior Nikki Garriola amassed 24 kills, 12 digs, four aces and four blocks, while junior Mikayla Hsieh racked up 18 digs, 18 assists and seven kills. Junior Luisa Madrigal collected nine kills and five digs, sophomore Piper Scherbert produced four kills, two blocks and two digs, and junior Veronica Udell tallied six aces, four digs, two kills and two blocks. Sophomore Ally Du registered 24 assists and five digs, junior Lindsey Du had 19 digs, two aces and two assists, and senior Charlotte Taylor recorded 15 digs and two aces. Meanwhile, freshman Alexandra Carr made her varsity debut and posted two kills and three digs.
FSHA concluded a fine season as Angelus League runners-up with a 6-2 record (21-17 overall). Garriola amassed team-high marks in kills (339), digs (377) and aces (66) with 37 blocks, Ally Du finished with a team-high 336 assists, 181 digs and 41 aces, and Scherbert tallied a team-high 71 blocks, 99 kills and 58 assists. Hsieh filled up the stat sheet with 303 assists, 289 digs, 92 kills, 30 blocks and 27 aces, while Lindsey Du racked up 357 digs, 73 assists and 51 aces. Madrigal recorded 206 kills, 148 digs and 22 blocks, Udell collected 107 kills, 72 digs, 25 blocks and 10 aces, and Taylor posted 298 digs and 45 aces. Senior Keira Limon had 38 kills, 36 digs, 29 blocks and 16 aces, senior Ellamae Fortin registered 17 digs, one kill, one assist and one ace, and sophomore Sophia Astacaan had five digs, four blocks and three kills.
FLINTRIDGE PREP
The Wolves lost their CIF-SS Division V first-round match at Bishop Amat High in La Puente, 29-27, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, last Thursday.
Jessica Powell collected 19 kills and seven digs, while Abbie Callaway racked up 15 kills and 17 digs. Lucy Liu produced nine kills, four blocks, two aces and two digs, Amelia Bechthold finished with seven kills and three blocks, and Clara Bassuk registered three kills and two digs. Angie Cheng had 22 digs, Marissa Halley tallied 18 digs, and Ashlyn Nam posted 15 digs. Jaleen Tseng recorded 11 digs, while Candice Huang had two aces and one dig.
Flintridge Prep, which finished fifth in the Prep League standings with a 5-7 record (14-10 overall), will look to return to the postseason in next year’s campaign.
