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Falcons coast to league victory
Volleyball: Hoover stand comes far too late in one-sided home contest with Crescenta Valley.
By Gabriel Rizk
NORTHWEST GLENDALE — There’s little intrigue left in the remainder of the Pacific League boys’ volleyball season, with the top four teams already having locked up playoff berths.
Crescenta Valley is one such team and Coach John Nelson is approaching every match between now and the start of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs as a chance to work out the kinks and establish some consistent play.
With the playoffs already long since out of its reach, Hoover began Tuesday’s match against the Falcons with no discernible agenda, offering little resistance over the first two games before showing some signs of life near the end of the 25-8, 25-14, 25-20 sweep.
“Today was my first day back from my surgery and I know [the team] didn’t do much while I was gone,” said Hoover Coach Deb Cohen, who returned to the sideline after missing over two weeks of the season with an arm injury. “It just seems like they don’t really care.
“I said, ‘We’re not going to playoffs, but let’s make it harder for them,’ because we can — we’ve played well against them. [The Tornadoes] were kind of like, ‘Whatever,’ and it showed until the third game.”
The beginning of Tuesday’s match — in which Crescenta Valley sped out to an early 10-4 lead behind three Craig La Fountaine kills and soon went up, 20-7 — was a far cry from the April 3 meeting between the two teams, when Hoover came out fired up and stole the first game before the Falcons reeled off close wins in the next three games.
“We were much more focused [this time],” Nelson said. “We’re focusing on trying to get to where we can win a playoff game and that’s all we’re worrying about, so we looked better.”
The first game ended with a four-point service run by Falcons libero Wes Pinero, capped off by an ace.
Hoover took its first lead of the match, 2-1, but from there, Pinero served off another seven straight points to put Hoover in a 10-2 hole.
Down 16-5, the Tornadoes made a bit of a run, but Crescenta Valley’s strong serving sealed the victory. Anthony Shapiro put the Falcons (7-4 in league) up 2-0 in games with back-to-back aces to end the second game.
“We’ve got a good mix of float serves and jump serves to keep you off balance,” Nelson said.
If the Tornadoes team that unexpectedly showed up for Game 3 had made an earlier appearance, the match may well have unfolded quite differently.
Hoover (2-9 in league) led for the first half of the game, but never went back ahead after losing a 14-13 lead.
The Falcons’ own sense of complacency that took hold in the third game was broken when La Fountaine (eight kills and seven aces) made a diving save to keep a ball alive that the Falcons would put away for a 16-15 lead.
Crescenta Valley’s front line came alive with six kills and two blocks for points down the stretch to put away the match.
Eric Boyd had seven kills and Nico Alegria added six kills for the Falcons.
Crescenta Valley is one such team and Coach John Nelson is approaching every match between now and the start of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs as a chance to work out the kinks and establish some consistent play.
With the playoffs already long since out of its reach, Hoover began Tuesday’s match against the Falcons with no discernible agenda, offering little resistance over the first two games before showing some signs of life near the end of the 25-8, 25-14, 25-20 sweep.
“Today was my first day back from my surgery and I know [the team] didn’t do much while I was gone,” said Hoover Coach Deb Cohen, who returned to the sideline after missing over two weeks of the season with an arm injury. “It just seems like they don’t really care.
“I said, ‘We’re not going to playoffs, but let’s make it harder for them,’ because we can — we’ve played well against them. [The Tornadoes] were kind of like, ‘Whatever,’ and it showed until the third game.”
The beginning of Tuesday’s match — in which Crescenta Valley sped out to an early 10-4 lead behind three Craig La Fountaine kills and soon went up, 20-7 — was a far cry from the April 3 meeting between the two teams, when Hoover came out fired up and stole the first game before the Falcons reeled off close wins in the next three games.
“We were much more focused [this time],” Nelson said. “We’re focusing on trying to get to where we can win a playoff game and that’s all we’re worrying about, so we looked better.”
The first game ended with a four-point service run by Falcons libero Wes Pinero, capped off by an ace.
Hoover took its first lead of the match, 2-1, but from there, Pinero served off another seven straight points to put Hoover in a 10-2 hole.
Down 16-5, the Tornadoes made a bit of a run, but Crescenta Valley’s strong serving sealed the victory. Anthony Shapiro put the Falcons (7-4 in league) up 2-0 in games with back-to-back aces to end the second game.
“We’ve got a good mix of float serves and jump serves to keep you off balance,” Nelson said.
If the Tornadoes team that unexpectedly showed up for Game 3 had made an earlier appearance, the match may well have unfolded quite differently.
Hoover (2-9 in league) led for the first half of the game, but never went back ahead after losing a 14-13 lead.
The Falcons’ own sense of complacency that took hold in the third game was broken when La Fountaine (eight kills and seven aces) made a diving save to keep a ball alive that the Falcons would put away for a 16-15 lead.
Crescenta Valley’s front line came alive with six kills and two blocks for points down the stretch to put away the match.
Eric Boyd had seven kills and Nico Alegria added six kills for the Falcons.
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