Volleyball Notebook: Teams Prepared for Crescenta Valley Tournament

The CIF-Southern Section playoffs are starting in just a couple of weeks, but that’s not the tournament dominating several teams’ minds right at this moment. This weekend, teams from all around the San Gabriel Valley will be flocking to Crescenta Valley High School for the Crescenta Valley Tournament.

The favorite of the tournament figures to be Burroughs. The Indians are a perfect 6-0 in league play, 22-3 on the season, and ranked No. 1 in Division 3.

Burroughs is riding a six-game winning streak, and most impressive, the Indians have not dropped a single set in the month of April. One man who knows plenty about Burroughs is Arcadia Coach Charles Freberg, whose team was the last to win a set off of Burroughs.

“They are just very stacked at every position,” he said. “They have a lot of huge hitters on the outside and their middle guys can dominate. Burroughs can side out at will, and they deserve the No. 1 (ranking) until someone beats them.”

One group of teams that will be well represented at the tournament will be the Rio Hondo League. The league will be sending four of its five teams: Temple City, South Pasadena, San Marino and La Canada.

Temple City currently leads the Rio Hondo League with a 6-0 record in league play, while South Pasadena follows in second with a 4-1 record. San Marino (2-4), Gabrielino (1-4) and La Canada (1-5) round out the current league standings.

The South Pasadena Tigers are one of the hottest teams entering the tournament. Fresh off of a 3-0 win against La Canada on Thursday, the Tigers have won five of their last six matches. Though their record is only 7-13, their recent play shows how far they have come.

“We had a brutal preseason schedule. I just wanted us to survive until spring break then we would see how far we come. So far, I couldn’t be happier with my kid’s progression,” said South Pasadena coach Todd Terzian.

Terzian says that this weekend will serve as a great tool to see where they stand in CIF, and to possibly send a message.

“This tournament will be about gaining confidence heading into CIF. I want the kids to get some more wins under their belts before we go into the playoffs. I also hope we can show the seeding committee that we are a solid team and that we get some more respect out of it.”

The other teams in South Pasadena’s pool are Quartz Hills, Garey, and La Baptist.

******

One team that will be absent from the Crescenta Valley Tournament is Arcadia. Instead of playing at CV, they will be travelling down to Redondo Beach to partake in another big late season tournament, the Redondo Beach Tournament.

Along with Arcadia, Poly and Redondo Union will be other powerhouses that will be at the tournament. Freberg knows that the tournament will provide great preparation for the CIF playoffs.

“It’s going to be great competition that’s just a given because of who they are,” Freberg said. “Obviously we want to do well and finish well in our league. The other thing we want to do is get ready for CIF. Those are our two goals.”

******

In other volleyball news, Flintridge Prep has continued to struggle this season, dropping their last two games to fall to 2-4 in Prep League play as they head into their final two league matches of the season. The team will wrap up the regular season with Webb next Tuesday and Rio Hondo Prep on Friday. Both games will be at 4:30, and both are at Flintridge Prep.

******

The La Salle Lancers (18-7-1, 6-1 in the Del Rey League) are getting ready for the biggest game of the year, as they can win the Del Rey League with a win in their final game of the season. The Lancers have a rematch with Cathedral, who beat them 3-2 on April 7.

The most important factor in the match could be the home court advantage for La Salle, who has an impressive 11-1 home record. For coach Ben Diaz, the home court isn’t as important as his team playing their best game.

“I think my guys can play and compete anywhere,” he said. “I do think the comfort level of playing at home does help a little bit though, but I don't think it matters where we play to be honest.”