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August 21, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Because of the abundance of varsity inexperience that Cerritos High has this season, there could be a changing of the guard in the 605 League, leaving the door open for Whitney High, which will be well-experienced, and others. Don’t expect anyone from the Gateway League to win all eight matches as the addition of Norwalk High from the Mid-Cities League creates an even more competitive league.
ARTESIA PIONEERS
11-9 overall last season, 6-4 in the 605 League, third place, lost to Wildwood High in four sets in the Division 7 first round playoffs.
32-76 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Tommy Dube (fifth season, 32-76)
Last time missed the playoffs: 2022
Last season was one of milestones for Artesia High. It was the third time in over 27 seasons the Pioneers had advanced to the playoffs and the 11 victories, plus the winning season were both firsts over that same time. In addition, head coach Tommy Dube is now the second longest tenured head coach the program has had since 2000, and the winningest during that time.
Half of last season’s team graduated and of the three seniors on this season’s team, only outside hitter Rylee Asumbrado has varsity experience while junior outside hitter Djulianne Goze is the only other returning player.
CERRITOS DONS
19-5 overall last season, 10-0 in the 605 League, first place, lost to Culver City High in three sets in the Division 5 first round playoffs.
109-28 overall last five seasons
Head coach: David Cuthbert (11th season, 179-77)
Last time missed the playoffs: 2002
It was status quo for Cerritos with the program’s fifth straight undefeated 605 League season. But 2023 marked the fifth time since 2012 the Dons were knocked out in the first round at home. Throughout the 50 league matches played since 2018, the Dons are 150-2 in sets played as head coach David Cuthbert continues to add to his mark as the program’s winningest head coach. The two sets the Dons lost came in 2021 to Oxford Academy and Whitney. Last season, the queens of the league had to earn all 19 victories as they were decimated with injuries early on.
“Injuries are normal for us,” said Cuthbert. “We continue to try and build a program from top to bottom across three teams [in our program] so that any single loss can be somewhat covered. It’s never easy as some players are harder to replace, but there is no sense in focusing on what could have been.”
Cerritos returns only three players this season, but only senior defensive specialist Gaby Colombo was healthy the entire season. The other two coming back are senior outside hitter/opposite hitter Brooke Lozano and senior middle blocker/opposite hitter Sophia Toney. However, Cuthbert said he’s excited about a quartet of freshmen who plan to play considerable minutes. Those are setter Kylie Cruz, utility player Leah Hidalgo, middle blocker Miranda Martinez and outside hitter Ally Vernon.
He added that there are high expectations for his sophomore class-middle blocker Kaylin Cho, opposite hitter Ceana Merino, outside hitter Avery Updike and middle blocker Eunice Zhang. Cerritos will have a large squad that includes five other seniors, bringing the number of varsity players to 16.
“Concerns for the season are how young we are and having to construct a complete rebuild,” said Cuthbert. “With a senior laden group, last year’s performance was pretty steady, and we knew what to expect from each player. This year, we have a lot of growing to do, which is a concern, but also incredibly exciting. Summer practices have been fun and competitive as there are so many positions up for grabs.”
While an ideal lineup has yet to be determined, Cuthbert is going to start the season with a 6-2 formation to give as many players as possible an opportunity to show what they are capable of.
GAHR GLADIATORS
22-12 overall last season, 3-5 in the Gateway League, tied for third place, lost to Glendale High in three sets in the Division 6 quarterfinals.
79-53 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Charity Dennis (fourth season, 43-40)
Last time missed the playoffs: 2022
Gahr High reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the late 1990s and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. The Gladiators return five players with senior opposite hitter/outside hitter Kyla Jones the top offensive threat. Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Alexis Contreras, senior defensive specialist/libero Layla Garcia, junior middle blocker/opposite hitter Jessalyn Ecevedo and junior outside hitter/opposite hitter Genesis Islas are the other returning players.
With only eight league matches, Gahr has already participated in the Pacifica Tournament and will later be in the Whittier Tournament and the Bellflower/Gahr Tournament plus several non-league matches.
JOHN GLENN EAGLES
4-13 overall last season, 0-10 in the 605 League, sixth place
31-67 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Daniel Reyes (fifth season, 25-41)
Last time made the playoffs: 2022
John Glenn High seems to be playing the ‘one step forward, two steps back’ game as the Eagles went from 11 wins in head coach Daniel Reyes’ first season to one win, then to nine wins and back to four victories last season. Glenn won just three sets in league action and went 3-2 last September. But making matters worse for Reyes is the fact that seven of the 11 players from last season’s team graduated.
“It definitely does feel as though the program is in that type of situation,” said Reyes. “With the school’s low [enrollment] numbers, it makes our pool of students to “select” a lot smaller than other schools. On top of that, it feels as though it can be a tricky situation to get athletes to completely buy in to what’s necessary to stay competitive as a program, as well as their support systems at home. They tend to be thrown into a situation where they are needed to help out with their families in other ways, which prevents them from being ‘all in’ and it can make things harder to grow as a team.”
With four wins last season, it was hard for Reyes to find many positives as he had to pull up several players from the junior varsity team expecting to contribute right away, in his words. But they lacked experience, which showed throughout the season. With that said, he added that it helped the juniors start to slowly get a feel for the speed of the game and gave them some drive to not have a repeat performance this season.
Only senior setter Evelyn Gonzalez, senior outside hitter Sugey Mancilla, junior outside hitter Valeria Mejia and junior middle blocker Abigail Salaiza return, and Reyes said all of them have improved in certain aspects of their game. Gonzalez transitioned from a libero to a setter last year and now is more comfortable the offense. Mancilla has been doing well this past offseason as a passer and is hitting more consistently with confidence and Mejia has improved her court usage and placing the ball in different areas of the court.
Senior opposite hitter/middle blocker Erin Perez and sophomore middle blocker Arydai Castro are Glenn’s top varsity newcomers and Reyes says they will help in the blocking department.
“We’ve continuously been a program that lacks height, and the height we’ve come across, typically have struggled,” he continued. “Thee two are very understanding and constantly are wanting to improve.”
Glenn won three of its first five matches last season and entering this week, have half of last season’s win production. For the Eagles to continue winning, Reyes said they will go as far as the offense takes them, as well as their mentality.
“Year in and year out, we’ve always struggled as a hitting team,” he said. “It always felt as though 90 percent of our offense resulted in us either giving other teams a free ball, or our own hitting errors. If we can be more consistent with hitting, it will help us stay in games a lot more than we did last year. I try to constantly push our girls to thrive for adversity. I want to know how they will respond when they’re faced with adversity. If they can maintain their composure and keep focus, then it will be huge for us.”
LA MIRADA MATADORES
19-11 overall last season, 5-3 in the Gateway League, second place, lost to Tarbot V’ Torah High in five sets in the Division 6 second round playoffs.
64-73 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Kimberly Mahan (fourth season, 48-40)
Last time missed the playoffs: 2018
La Mirada High’s first season in the Gateway League was what head coach Kimberly Mahan thought it would be as the Matadores were in eight tough battles. Two were sweeps by Downey High and Warren High, one was a thrilling five-set win against Gahr and the rest were decided in four sets. She said the new league for the program was what she expected and anticipated and thought it would be more competitive for her team, which it was.
“I never felt like we could just go out and dominate any team,” said Mahan. “We always had to keep working hard.”
The Matadores will be stocked this season with nine seniors from a squad of 13 players. Of those 13 players, half a dozen are returning, and none is bigger, literally, than senior middle blocker Natalie Ojeisekhoba. The 6’2” standout was three kills shy of 200 last season and led the team with 53 blocks. But Mahan is quick to say that the team is not about Ojeisekhoba as senior middle blocker Maleah Diaz is ‘also a very strong hitter’. They are the strongest hitters on the team and Mahan says the team is working on having great passes in serve receive and on defense so they can run the middles.
Mahan’s daughter, Kiersten, is the setter and will be joined in an ideal starting lineup with the two aforementioned middle blockers, junior outside hitters Kaitlyn Singh and sophomore Ahri Grayson, senior opposite hitter Geraldine Aiono and senior libero Angelyna Conde. Seniors Iyleen Garcia and Selina Haile are expected to be the defensive specialists.
Because of a sprained ankle that will sideline her for three weeks, sophomore Keliana Gonzalez is an outside hitter who would have been a starter. Expect her to be another presence when she returns to the court.
With the addition of Norwalk to the league, it’s anybody’s ballgame when it comes to who will finish first, second, third, fourth or fifth.
“I think the Gateway League is still going to be strong and competitive,” said Kimberly Mahan. “[Norwalk head coach] Paola Nava has done great at improving the Norwalk program. Gahr and Downey always have strong teams and Warren is still going to be very strong with their two sophomore hitters.”
NORWALK LANCERS
24-12 overall last season, 9-1 in the Mid-Cities League, tied for first place, lost to Loma Linda Academy in five sets in the Division 7 quarterfinals.
56-68 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Paola Nava (fourth season, 43-34)
Last time missed the playoffs: 2021
After improving from a tie for third place to co-league champions in the Mid-Cities League in the first two years of the Suburban Valley Conference, Norwalk is taking it to the next level, having been promoted to the Gateway League. That should not be a problem for head coach Paola Nava and the Lancers, who had their best season in the program’s history. Norwalk returns 11 of the 13 players who were on the roster when it was bounced out in the playoffs.
“It was extremely special, especially living in Norwalk, going to Norwalk High School and then being their coach for the last five years,” said Nava of last season. “I think it’s something that these girls truly deserved. They worked hard; they knew they had it in them. As coaches, we knew they had it in them and it was something to prove to themselves and show that all their hard work actually paid off.”
The Lancers, who once again will play all their matches on the road except for the four league matches, which will be played at the Norwalk Arts and Sports Complex, have more than enough talent to duplicate the success of last season. Five players graduated, but half the players on this season’s team are seniors with four juniors and a trio of sophomores. Three of the 14 players-senior middle blocker Aleyah Davis, junior outside hitter Giselle Salazar and junior defensive specialist/libero Nayeli Sanchez-were called up for the playoffs, giving the Lancers that extra varsity experience of playing against playoff-type teams.
“With the girls that were brought up from our junior varsity team into our playoff run, they really saw and felt emotionally and physically the happiness and sadness when it came down to losing in the quarterfinals,” said Nava. “They don’t want to feel that again. They really want to push past what we did last year and with the large experience of players that we have, I think pieces are easier to move around.”
The Lancers are built around two players, one who is in her third varsity season and the other who had a fantastic freshman campaign. Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Samantha Munoz, who stands at 5’ 11”, led the Lancers with 189 kills last season and had 55 blocks while 6’1” sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Mirei Sanchez led the team with a .318 hitting percentage and was second in kills (169) and blocks (42).
But make no mistake, there’s more to the team than Munoz and Mirei Sanchez. Flying under the radar last season to be huge contributors were senior opposite hitter/middle blocker Brenda Quezada, senior setter Zaidee Zapeda and junior defensive specialist/libero Ashley Castaneda, Nava plans to run a 5-1 offense with Zepeda as the setter, Quezada and Mirei Sanchez as the two outside hitters, Davis and Munoz as the two middle blockers, senior Diana Avina as the opposite hitter on the right side and Castaneda as the libero in the middle.
“I want to say Zaidee, Ashley and Brenda are our ideal team players that everyone would want on a team,” said Nava. “Zaidee tries to take charge of her team and I think that’s carried into Brenda and Ashley’s mentality, and they see that. “
Sophomores Nataly Felix, a defensive specialist and outside hitter, and Madeline Gutierrez, a setter, whom Nava says has a great work ethic, are two newcomers to the squad. But even with a stacked team, if the Lancers are to win the Gateway League this season, they will have earned it more given the competition that awaits them.
“It’s something I’ve been looking forward to as a coach,” said Nava. “I know [assistant] coach Enrique [Galicia] has been looking forward to it [as well]. It’s something we’ve been preaching to the girls. Last season was last season; it’s in the past. We’re coming up to a brand new league; we’re coming into new territory and these teams are going to want to beat us.”
VALLEY CHRISTIAN DEFENDERS
17-11 overall last season, 6-2 in the Olympic League, second place, lost to Capistrano Valley Christian in three sets in the Division 4 quarterfinals.
99-58 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Stacy Brannon (first season)
Last time missed the playoffs: 2009
A key component in the middle blocker position who guided Valley Christian High to the 1998 USA Today National Championship is now taking over this storied program as Stacy Brannon (Rouwenhorst) becomes the third head coach in as many seasons. Brannon, who later starred at Pepperdine University and played on the AVP tour, was part of the 33-0 team in 1998, by far the best team in school history.
The Defenders should be solid in 2024 with eight returning players, led by senior outside hitter Cameron Warner and sophomore outside hitter Tessa Dobmeier. Senior defensive specialist/libero London Griffith, junior middle hitters Aubrey Ericks and Jordan Weston and junior utility player Devyn Masi and sophomore outside hitter Jenna Van Kampen and sophomore setter Lucy Taylor are the other returning players.
WHITNEY WILDCATS
13-17 overall last season, 5-5 in the 605 League, fourth place
55-78 overall last five seasons
Head coach: Mark Kato (second season, 13-17)
Last time made the playoffs: 2019
Whitney graduated four players from a team of 13 and the Wildcats had an eight-match losing streak early followed by a stretch of five wins in seven matches last season. After fielding a squad of 14 players last season, the Wildcats are expected to have 10 this season with senior opposite hitter Athena Abrera, senior middle blocker Chiugo Anyama, senior setter Malia Aquino, senior defensive specialist Keira Kato, senior outside hitter Rachel Moyher and junior middle blocker Olachi Anyama, junior setter Mahila Cheralathan, junior Taylor Kim, junior outside hitter Nevaeh Salinas and sophomore setter Janelle Sales all coming back. As of the beginning of the week, there were no varsity newcomers.
