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Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep volleyball preview: Mater Dei chases rare three-peat in top playoff division
As the 2025 high school girls volleyball campaign gets underway, no program in the Southland is garnering as much attention as Mater Dei — and for good reason. Led by reigning Coach of the Year Dan O'Dell, the Monarchs have won back-to-back CIF Southern Section Division 1 titles and are trying to become only the second team in section annals to capture three straight in the top playoff division. The first school to three-peat in the highest division was Newport Harbor, which won three straight Division 1AA titles from 1997-99 under coach Dan Glenn. Spearheading Mater Dei's chase for history are reigning Player of the Year Layli Ostovar, a senior outside hitter committed to USC for beach and indoor, and fellow All-CIF outside hitter Westley Matavao, who flourished as a sophomore for the Monarchs following a mandatory sit-out period after transferring from Orange Lutheran. Matavao, an early commit to UCLA, had 12 kills in the final of the Durango Classic in Las Vegas in September and was named the tournament MVP. She ended last season with 276 kills (3.5 per set) and 284 digs in 80 sets. Last Tuesday, the junior picked up right where she left off, pounding 15 kills and serving three aces in a season-opening four-set triumph over San Clemente. Ostovar was the team's kill-leader last fall with 337. Her sisters — setter Ayva and libero Kayla — graduated in the spring, but the Monarchs bring back three strong middle blockers in Addison Coady, Emma Kingston and Sierra Robinson. Mater Dei won back-to-back Division 1 crowns in 2017 and 2018 (also under O'Dell) but its bid for three in a row ended with a four-set loss to Redondo Union in the finals in 2019. Should it pull off a trifecta, this year's squad would equal the feat the Monarchs achieved in capturing three straight Division IIA titles from 2001-03 under Craig Pazanti, currently the boys and girls coach at his alma mater, Huntington Beach. The biggest threat to Mater Dei's supremacy in the Trinity League figures to be Santa Margarita, which returns All-CIF outside hitters Ireland Real (a U19 USA Volleyball team member who had 543 kills as a sophomore for the Eagles last fall) and Memphis Burnett. Orange Lutheran returns setter/hitter Marley Robinson and JSerra's attack is led by opposites Katherine and Charlotte Nowak. Redondo Union is one of several teams with the firepower to dethrone Mater Dei. The Seahawks established themselves as the favorites in the talent-laden Bay League by finishing runner-up at the Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii for a second straight time, falling to Byron Nelson of Texas in Saturday's championship match. On its march to the Gold Division final, Tommy Chaffins' squad ousted JSerra, league rival Mira Costa and Sierra Canyon. The Seahawks are flying high thanks to Cal-bound outside Abby Zimmerman, libero Addi Junk and opposite hitter Avery Junk (twins who are Florida State beach commits) and All-CIF middle blocker Taylor Boice (UC Irvine). Zimmerman is one of the most well-rounded players in California and last season's stats prove it: 429 kills, 259 digs, 63 blocks and 57 aces. Mira Costa wants revenge after getting upset by Redondo Union in the CIF-SS beach finals on May 3 and the Mustangs from Manhattan Beach are more than capable with a stable of outside hitters that includes Audrey Flanagan, Simone Roslon and Cayenne Ceman, and USC-bound setter Milly McGee. Flanagan pounded 478 kills a year ago and is headed to Wisconsin. Roslon has committed to Stanford and Ceman has committed to Northeastern. Despite the graduation of Taylor Decker (now at USC), who was a three-year starter at libero, Mira Costa has gone undefeated in league four years in a row and is determined to extend that streak. The last school not named Mater Dei to win the top prize in the Southern Section was Sierra Canyon, which swept Mira Costa in the finals in 2022. The Trailblazers are contenders once more with junior outside hitters Hanna McGinest (452 kills in 2024) and Eva Jeffries (415 kills), both of whom are daughters of former pro athletes. The roster also features Missouri commit Lucky Fasavalu (who can both set and hit) and two junior transfers—middle and Nebraska commit Kendall Omoruyi and hitter McKenna McIntosh, a USC commit. Defending the Mission League crown will be a challenge for Sierra Canyon because Marymount is itching to unseat its archival, having dropped three meetings with the Trailblazers last season. Returning for the Sailors are hitter Sammy Destler (a Washington commit), setter Olivia Penske (a Georgetown commit), middle Elle Vandeweghe (a Southern Methodist commit) and junior pin hitter Makenna Barnes. Cari Klein coached Marymount to six straight titles (five in Division IVAA and the last in IA) from 2001-06 — still the section record — and three consecutive from 2010-12 (the first two in 1A and the last in 1AA, then the top division). Huntington Beach lost All-CIF libero Olivia Foye (now at Princeton) but outside hitter Addison Williams (a Hawaii commit) and the Oilers will battle for the Sunset League crown with Los Alamitos, which is paced by libero Kaitlyn Herweg. Murrieta Valley and Palos Verdes clashed for the Division 2 title last year but both rosters look significantly different. All-CIF sophomore hitter Summer Tukua returns but the champion Nighthawks graduated eight players, including MVP Miley Thunstrom. Palos Verdes lost three All-CIF players: top hitter and Stanford commit Kaci Demaria, LSU beach commit Molly LeBreche and UCLA beach commit Mallory LaBreche. Under coach Arman Mercado, defending City Section Open Division champion Taft won 40 or more matches in each of the three previous seasons, but the core of that group graduated last spring, including Co-Players of the Year Aleiah Carr and Francine Baltazar-Shine, libero Gianella Tijamo and All-City outside hitter Eva Velarde. Returning are defensive specialist Jasmine Orellana, setter Alexa Barajas and opposite Laila Braimah. Open Division finalist Venice returns All-City first-teamers Gaia Adeseun-Williams and setter Kaya Richards and second-team pick Samantha Lortie. Palisades is hungry for its first title in five years with hitter Tulah Block and libero Lucy Neilson.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep talk: Local players get to play in Tuesday's McDonald's All-American Games
Prep talk: Local players get to play in Tuesday's McDonald's All-American Games It's the all-star basketball game every high school player aspires to play in. The McDonald's All-American Games will take place Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Southern California will be well represented in the boys' and girls' games. Advertisement The boys' game, set for 6 p.m. PT on ESPN, includes Brayden Burries from Eastvale Roosevelt, USC-bound Alijah Arenas from Chatsworth and Duke-bound Nikolas Khamenia from Harvard-Westlake. The girls game, set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2, includes LSU-bound Grace Knox from Etiwanda, Cal-bound Aliyahna Morris from Etiwanda and Iowa-bound Addie Deal from Mater Dei. Also in the game is Baylor-bound Tounde Yessoufou from Santa Maria St. Joseph. Burries is uncommitted and being recruited by USC and Arizona, among others.... There are four starting pitchers beginning the week with 0.00 ERAs: Otto Graham of JSerra, Jackson Eisenhauer of Crespi, Seth Hernandez of Corona and Brandon Thomas of Mater Dei. Advertisement This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Local players get to play in Tuesday's McDonald's All-American Games
It's the all-star basketball game every high school player aspires to play in. The McDonald's All-American Games will take place Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Southern California will be well represented in the boys' and girls' games. The boys' game, set for 6 p.m. PT on ESPN, includes Brayden Burries from Eastvale Roosevelt, USC-bound Alijah Arenas from Chatsworth and Duke-bound Nikolas Khamenia from Harvard-Westlake. The girls game, set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2, includes LSU-bound Grace Knox from Etiwanda, Cal-bound Aliyahna Morris from Etiwanda and Iowa-bound Addie Deal from Mater Dei. Also in the game is Baylor-bound Tounde Yessoufou from Santa Maria St. Joseph. Burries is uncommitted and being recruited by USC and Arizona, among others.... There are four starting pitchers beginning the week with 0.00 ERAs: Otto Graham of JSerra, Jackson Eisenhauer of Crespi, Seth Hernandez of Corona and Brandon Thomas of Mater Dei. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
Los Angeles Times
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach baseball tops Aquinas to open Boras Classic South
SANTA ANA — Benji Medure says this is the most talented group he's fielded in 25 years in charge of Huntington Beach's powerhouse baseball program, that it could be the best of his teams, and let's see how that plays out. It's likely to be determined, among other things, over the course of three tournaments: the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship come May, next month's National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C., and this week's 16-team Boras Classic, Southern California's prestige event. The Oilers (7-0), boasting a booming lineup and unprecedented pitching depth, took an impressive first step along the path, riding Otto Espinoza's arm and Trevor Goldenetz's bat and glove to a 4-1 victory over Aquinas (5-1) in Tuesday morning's Boras opener at Mater Dei High School. They've got La Mirada (8-1) up next, on Wednesday at 3 p.m.— the first real meeting since last year's regional semifinal classic — and aim to be facing off in Friday evening's final at JSerra, where consensus national No. 1 Corona (8-0) could be waiting. 'I think we're the best team in the country,' said Goldenetz, an All-CIF center fielder whose two-out, two-run double in the fourth and crashing-into-the-wall catch in the sixth separated the sides. 'I think we can do everything we want to do, as long as we keep going and stay as a team. 'I think we'll do everything we want to do: win a CIF championship, win this, and win North Carolina. I think we can do it all.' The Oilers — No. 3 in the country, Sports Illustrated and MaxPreps agree — have it all written down. 'We have it written in the white board,' said Espinoza, a 6-foot-3, Cal-bound right-hander. 'We have everything on a check board, and they're all boxed and waiting to be checked.' Espinoza surrendered just two hits in five shutout innings against an Aquinas attack that had scored 67 runs in its first five outings, working a 92 mile-per-hour fastball, his signature slider and, to his surprise, a sharp changeup. He twice worked out of one-out, man-on-second situations, and limited Falcons stars Mason Greenhouse and Jacob Bitonti to a walk in a combined six plate appearances. 'He was aggressive with his fastball,' Medure said. 'He was working both sides of the plate. I love that he was throwing in to some guys that probably weren't expecting the ball to come in, especially Greenhouse and Bitonti, but then threw a good-enough changeup to keep the barrel off of [the ball].' The Oilers scored an unearned run in the third inning, as Ethan Porter doubled to the left-center gap with one out and came home on a two-out throwing error. Then, two more runs on Goldenetz's full-count double to right in the fourth, and another on Owen Bone's safety-squeeze bunt in the fifth. Goldenetz, headed to Long Beach State, delivered the key blow. It all happened with two out: Jared Grindlinger singled up the middle, and John Petrie ripped a pinch-hit double off the base of the wall in left-center. Porter worked a full-count walk to fill the bases, and Goldenetz poked a line drive over first baseman Trevor Busby's head and down the right-field line. 'That was huge [to] crack it open like that ...,' Medure said. 'It was a 3-2 count, so the runners were going, and when Goldie hits the ball hard, he usually hits it to right. And I'm, like, oh my God, I don't want to send [Matt Haidl, back in to run for Petrie] from second on [Miami-bound Aquinas right fielder Mason] Greenhouse, because he has an unbelievable arm. 'To be able to get to 3-2 and have the runners move, I'm, like, OK, he gets a base hit, we're going to get two out of this.' Bone's bunt in brought home Trenton Ramirez, pinch-running for Trent Grindlinger, who was hit by a pitch. Medure said Bone wasn't in the initial rotation of players when the Oilers began offseason preparations, but he's worked hard to get into that group. Goldenetz's big catch made sure the lead was enough. Estaban Orazaba was at second after his second single of the morning when Bitonti launched a fly ball to deep right-center with one out. Goldenetz raced 25 or 30 yards and — with Haidl guiding him — snagged it as he hit the wall. Medure called it 'the biggest play of the game.' Aquinas got its run in the seventh as Chase Davidson doubled and came home on Orlando Oakes' two-out single. The Oilers have something of a rivalry with La Mirada (8-1), No. 8 on MaxPreps' California list and a 7-0 winner over Birmingham. The last showdown was a wild one, with the Matadores hitting three homers and six doubles to overcome a five-run deficit for a 10-8 victory. They faced off again a month ago, in the final preseason scrimmage. 'You wouldn't have known that was a scrimmage,' Medure said. 'It was a war ... We always seem to match up in this tournament. We matched up in '23 and we matched up in '19, so why not? 'There's going to be some fireworks, for sure.'
