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The West Valley League seemingly always has their team competing for City championships and last Friday night was no different as the Valley Sports Telegram top-ranked team Granada Hills dueled it out against our 3rd-ranked team Taft on the campus of Cal State Northridge. Granada was hungry from the tip, building a two point advantage on a Jessica Eldridge kill and Joanna Velasquez served up a service ace. The Highlanders were ahead 17-6 when Taft got back to back kills from junior hitter Claire Mussell to cut the big deficit to 17-9. From that point on, the reigning two-time co-West Valley POY Hannah Bernstein showed her dominance by knocking down four kills to close out the first set victory 25-16.
After trading blows to start the second set, Long Beach State beach volleyball commit, senior Julia Bazylevych and Mussell combined for nine kills to draw the game even at a set apiece 25-23. Granada Hills went on to take the final two sets by the scores of 25-22 and 25-18 to take home their seventh championship in program history - breaking a tie with Verdugo Hills for the most wins by a CIF City Section Valley team. With the victory, legendary coach of Granada Hills Tom Harp now can say he has won more championships than NFL head coach Bill Belichick. This win was also the third Open Division title for the Highlanders, but first since 2017. After falling in the title game to Palisades in the Spring of 2021 and to Venice last fall surely makes this victory that much sweeter.
Photo Courtesy of CIF La City SectionBernstein led the offensive charge for the Highlanders with 19 kills and 10 digs, while Valeria Bellodas-Lazo finished with 15 kills and 17 digs, Eldridge collected nine kills and six stuff blocks and the fantastic freshman sensation Alexis Cuan had seven kills as well. Senior defensive specialist and libero Noa Lee had 21 digs. Senior captain and setter Mason Kelley contributed with 48 assists and 17 digs.
Berstein, who wants to continue playing beach volleyball after she graduates, talked about the feeling of playing in a huge NCAA Division 1 arena: “It was really a great atmosphere for my team, because we really brought the energy and that's what made our game today.” Kelley was just “so proud of us, I knew that this was in us from day one…….the amount of grit and mental toughness we have.”
Unfortunately for Granada Hills, their season came to an end on Tuesday in the Southern California Regionals on the road at Eastlake of Chula Vista. They fell to the Titans 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 18-25, 22-25). Taft, meanwhile, was home against the Helix Highlanders of La Mesa. The Toreadors were eliminated in a 5-set loss, 3-2 (25-26, 26-28, 25-17, 18-25, 5-15).
The Birmingham Patriots competed in the Division 1 final which was also held at CSUN last Friday before the Open Division final. The Patriots couldn’t maintain their one set advantage and a 8-4 start to the second set, and from there the San Pedro Pirates took complete control of the game for a 3-1 (25-18, 16-25, 17-25, 19-25) win. Pedro brought back to the Harbor a 5th trophy in eight finals meetings.
The Patriots found themselves in Division 4 of the SoCal Regional tournament. They traveled through the rain to San Ynez to face off with the Pirates on Tuesday, but were unable to progress as they were swept 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-19).
The two other valley schools to compete in their respective city finals were John F Kennedy and Fulton College Prep advanced to the Division 2 and Division 5 finals respectively last Saturday. The finals held at Birmingham saw the two programs competing for a city title for the first time in their histories. Unfortunately for the both of them each suffered defeat and had to settle for the title of runner-up. The Cougars fell to the University Wildcats 3-0 (27-25, 25-11, 25-22), and the Jaguars were defeated by the Belmont Sentinels 3-1 (25-23, 11-25, 24-26, 20-25).
