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Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
High school boys' volleyball: State championship results
CIF BOYS VOLLEYBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS At Fresno City College SATURDAY'S RESULTS DIVISION I Mira Costa d. Archbishop Mitty, 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 DIVISION II Santa Ana Mater Dei d. Buchanan, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20 DIVISION III Sage Hill d. International, 25-19, 25-16, 25-23 DIVISION IV Chula Vista Mater Dei d. Livingston, 25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach boys' volleyball season ends one match short of state finals
MANHATTAN BEACH — For the second time in eight days, Huntington Beach matched up with top-ranked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in a high-stakes fight. And for the second time in those bouts, the Mustangs walked away with the prize, this time securing a spot in the inaugural CIF State Division I championship match for boys' volleyball. Cooper Keane had 18 kills to lead Mira Costa over visiting Huntington Beach 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 on Saturday in a Southern California regional final, bringing an end to an otherwise remarkable season for the Oilers. 'In any given year, we could have been CIF champs and state champs,' Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. 'We were the second best team in our section, second best team in Southern California, we've been one of the top teams in the country all year long, and just give these guys credit. These guys have busted their butts all year long.' Huntington Beach (36-5) took three of its losses against Mira Costa (36-2), including a five-set defeat in the Southern Section Division 1 final on Friday, May 16. The Mustangs will be heavily favored against San Jose Archbishop Mitty (40-2) in the Division I state final on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College. 'I feel completely lucky to be a part of it,' Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder said of his team advancing to the state finals. 'To have the team that we have in the first year that it's in existence, I feel like Mira Costa is set up to take it. I have complete respect for [Archbishop Mitty], but I feel like this team is hungry for that win. 'I've been dangling that carrot in front of them the entire season, and now that it's close, I just see this team coming together, gelling and peaking just at the right time. A coach couldn't ask for anymore.' Grayson Bradford had seven kills and seven block assists for Mira Costa. Mateo Fuerbringer added eight kills, Alex Heins provided six kills and four block assists, and Wyatt Davis chipped in with six kills and three block assists. Andrew Chapin spread the ball around for 36 assists, adding two kills and a service ace. The Oilers went undefeated in the Sunset League, delivering the program's first league championship since 2016. Pazanti also noted that Huntington Beach played 21 matches against the top 10 teams in the Southern Section and went 17-4. 'We don't duck anybody,' Pazanti said. 'Year to year, we're going to play against the best competition, and that's how we get better. It would have been nice to get one more match, but can't be disappointed when you have that kind of a season.' Huntington Beach was off to the races in the first set. Snyder utilized his two timeouts after the Mustangs had fallen into deficits of 9-4 and 17-8, respectively. A late run closed the gap, and when outside hitter Colin Choi (five kills) aggravated an ankle injury upon landing after a swing, Mira Costa capitalized by taking eight of the last 11 points to claim the extended set. Mira Costa then won the last six points of the second set to take a commanding lead in the match. 'I thought through two sets, we had probably outplayed them for about 90% of the match,' Pazanti said. 'But they went on a run late in set two, and they went on a run late in set one, and that was the difference. We lose our best passer [Choi] at the end of set one. Who knows — would of, should of, could of — but I'm guessing he doesn't get hurt, we win set one and maybe it's a different mental approach to the rest of the match.' Logan Hutnick had a team-leading 17 kills to go with two block assists and an ace for Huntington Beach. Ben Arguello added nine kills and two block assists. Kai Gan distributed 28 assists. The Oilers played the match without Nick Ganier Jr. available at middle blocker, due to illness. Kaegan Ramdhani stepped up with two kills and four block assists. 'It's just tough,' said Choi, who returned to the action in the second set after having the injury taped. 'I think we just ran out of gas, but I think we put our best foot forward today, and I can't really complain.' Also in the CIF State Southern California regional finals: Sage Hill 3, San Diego Clairemont 0: The top-seeded Lightning earned a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 win at home on Saturday to advance to the CIF State Division III final. Jackson Cryst had 32 kills to lead Sage Hill (22-11), which has won a dozen matches in a row. The Lightning will face San Francisco International (27-7) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the state championship match at Fresno City College.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bradford family: Giants in height and volleyball
When the Bradford family walks together on a beach, at an airport, in a restaurant, eyes turn. They aren't just tall, they're giants. They aren't a basketball family — they play volleyball. On Memorial Day, mom, dad, daughter and son were at the beach looking for games. Lee Bradford was a 6-foot-7 middle blocker at Pepperdine in the 1990s. His wife, Sara, is 6-1 and played basketball at Fordham. Their oldest daughter, Carissa, was the 6-2 City Section volleyball player of the year at Granada Hills, played at Tennessee and South Alabama and is now head coach at Bates College. Advertisement Their son, Derek, is 6-8, won a CIF title with Royal and now trains with the USA beach volleyball team. Their son, Grayson, is a 6-11 senior at Mira Costa and plays for a state championship on Saturday in Fresno. He's committed to UCLA. Even the youngest in the family, 12-year-old daughter Brooke, is 5-10 and headed for volleyball stardom. Talk about good height genes — no giant shoes go unused in this family. Dad gave his kids a choice growing up. 'I love the sport and offered free private lessons,' he said. They took him up and the rest is history. Lee has been a teacher at Granada Hills and used to be an assistant coach to Tom Harp. He eventually moved his family to Manhattan Beach after driving to the South Bay for years for club competition. Advertisement 'We made a really good decision four years ago to go to a high level club program,' he said. 'It's been a great journey.' Grayson has been a key player for Mira Costa, which won the Southern Section Division 1 championship, then the Southern California regional championship and play San José Archbishop Mitty in the first state Division 1 boys title match on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College. It's a weekend for championships. The Southern Section baseball will be held Friday and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton and Blair Field in Long Beach. The Southern Section softball finals are Friday and Saturday in Irvine. Advertisement The state track and field championships will be Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis (temperatures will hit triple digits). The state tennis championships are Saturday in Fresno. The City Section softball finals are Saturday at Cal State Northridge. Tuesday's Division 1 baseball semifinals produced a shocker. No. 1-seeded Corona, which started the year considered as high school baseball's version of the Dodgers, was beaten by St. John Bosco 2-0. It was the first high school pitching defeat for Seth Hernandez, who came in 18-0. St. John Bosco has unleashed a closer extraordinaire in junior Jack Champlin. Last week, in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied, Villa Park had the winning run on third and Champlin was brought in to get a strikeout. He threw 2 1/3 hitless relief before the Braves won 5-4 in nine innings. Advertisement He was inserted into the game with a 2-0 count, one runner on and one out in the seventh inning against Corona. He walked the first first batter, then got a strikeout and fly out to end the game. He said of the situation, "'I love it,' he said. 'There's close to 1,000 people and it's electric. I didn't feel any pressure, didn't feel nervous. It's just fun to compete against all these Power 5 players." That kind of closer's mentality and confidence should help St. John Bosco in Friday's 7 p.m. Division final against Santa Margarita at Cal State Fullerton. Champlin will gladly take the ball whenever coach Andy Rojo offers it. Advertisement 'I haven't had a blown save,' he said. That's not the kiss of death. That's a teenager who wants the ball with the game on the line. 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
6 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Bradford family: Giants in height and volleyball
When the Bradford family walks together on a beach, at an airport, in a restaurant, eyes turn. They aren't just tall, they're giants. They aren't a basketball family — they play volleyball. On Memorial Day, mom, dad, daughter and son were at the beach looking for games. Lee Bradford was a 6-foot-7 middle blocker at Pepperdine in the 1990s. His wife, Sara, is 6-1 and played basketball at Fordham. Their oldest daughter, Carissa, was the 6-2 City Section volleyball player of the year at Granada Hills, played at Tennessee and South Alabama and is now head coach at Bates College. Their son, Derek, is 6-8, won a CIF title with Royal and now trains with the USA beach volleyball team. Their son, Grayson, is a 6-11 senior at Mira Costa and plays for a state championship on Saturday in Fresno. He's committed to UCLA. Even the youngest in the family, 12-year-old daughter Brooke, is 5-10 and headed for volleyball stardom. Talk about good height genes — no giant shoes go unused in this family. Dad gave his kids a choice growing up. 'I love the sport and offered free private lessons,' he said. They took him up and the rest is history. Lee has been a teacher at Granada Hills and used to be an assistant coach to Tom Harp. He eventually moved his family to Manhattan Beach after driving to the South Bay for years for club competition. 'We made a really good decision four years ago to go to a high level club program,' he said. 'It's been a great journey.' Grayson has been a key player for Mira Costa, which won the Southern Section Division 1 championship, then the Southern California regional championship and play San José Archbishop Mitty in the first state Division 1 boys title match on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College. It's a weekend for championships. The Southern Section baseball will be held Friday and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton and Blair Field in Long Beach. The Southern Section softball finals are Friday and Saturday in Irvine. The state track and field championships will be Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis (temperatures will hit triple digits). The state tennis championships are Saturday in Fresno. The City Section softball finals are Saturday at Cal State Northridge. Tuesday's Division 1 baseball semifinals produced a shocker. No. 1-seeded Corona, which started the year considered as high school baseball's version of the Dodgers, was beaten by St. John Bosco 2-0. It was the first high school pitching defeat for Seth Hernandez, who came in 18-0. St. John Bosco has unleashed a closer extraordinaire in junior Jack Champlin. Last week, in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied, Villa Park had the winning run on third and Champlin was brought in to get a strikeout. He threw 2 1/3 hitless relief before the Braves won 5-4 in nine innings. He was inserted into the game with a 2-0 count, one runner on and one out in the seventh inning against Corona. He walked the first first batter, then got a strikeout and fly out to end the game. He said of the situation, ''I love it,' he said. 'There's close to 1,000 people and it's electric. I didn't feel any pressure, didn't feel nervous. It's just fun to compete against all these Power 5 players.' That kind of closer's mentality and confidence should help St. John Bosco in Friday's 7 p.m. Division final against Santa Margarita at Cal State Fullerton. Champlin will gladly take the ball whenever coach Andy Rojo offers it. 'I haven't had a blown save,' he said. That's not the kiss of death. That's a teenager who wants the ball with the game on the line.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Crespi, Santa Margarita, Corona, St. John Bosco reach Division 1 baseball semifinals
There was drama, clutch hitting and a little luck in Friday's Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game between Crespi and Mira Costa. "Sometimes it's better to be lucky," Crespi coach Mike Glendenning said. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth with a Nate Lopez pop fly falling in left field as Mira Costa's shortstop, left fielder and center fielder tried to catch it. It scored the winning run in the Celts' 3-2 victory. What a game it was. Tyler Walton was cruising along with a one-hitter and a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning for Crespi. With one swing, Lucas Schermer of Mira Costa sent an 89 mph fastball far over the left-field wall to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead. Crespi fans were stunned and suddenly silent. Advertisement Just before Crespi players went to hit in the bottom of the seventh, catcher Landon Hodge gathered his teammates in the dugout and reminded them to trust one another. "We've been here before and came through," he said. Up came Gavin Huff, one of 11 seniors set to graduate Friday night. He hit a ball to left field into the wind down the line. It carried to the foul pole, struck it, then caromed back onto the field. The umpires signaled home run to tie the game. Mira Costa junior pitcher Garrett Jacobs was magnificent, striking out six in seven innings. Hodge finished with three hits for Crespi (24-2). Diego Velazquez threw three scoreless innings of relief. Mira Costa (28-3) had its 26-game winning streak come to an end. Crespi advanced to Tuesday's semifinals against host Santa Margarita. Advertisement Afterward, Crespi's seniors were hustled into two vans and driven from Hartunian Field to the Celts' Encino campus to shower, change and participate in graduation ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Hodge's uniform, hands and arms were so covered in dirt from three hours of catching, sliding and hitting that he might have needed a car wash to make it to graduation. More drama happened at Villa Park, where Trinity League champion St. John Bosco pulled out a 4-3 win in nine innings. Jaden Jefferson had an RBI double in the top of the ninth. But the big moment was the bottom of the seventh, when Villa Park came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game and had the winning run on third with two outs. Jack Champlin came out of the bullpen to record a strikeout for the Braves. Top-seeded Corona received a leadoff home run from Anthony Murphy, his 11th of the season, and relied on a one-hitter from Ethin Bingaman to get past Norco 2-0. Norco freshman pitcher Jordan Ayala impressed with his performance. It will be Corona at St. John Bosco in the semifinals on Tuesday. Santa Margarita got a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh from Warren Gravely IV to defeat Los Alamitos 5-4. Before that, Los Alamitos tied the game on a Sutton Deninno home run in the seventh. Division 2 West Ranch 10, Sultana 0: Hunter Manning threw a no-hitter and struck out eight to move West Ranch into the Division 2 semifinals. It was the second no-hitter this week by West Ranch pitchers. Nolan Stoll and Mikey Murr hit home runs. Advertisement Etiwanda 8, Servite 3: Derick Kim had two hits and four RBIs and LJ Roellig and Josh Adams hit home runs to send the Eagles into the Division 2 semifinals. Fountain Valley 5, Torrance 2: Logan Hunt threw five scoreless innings while allowing one hit for Fountain Valley. Mater Dei 2, Foothill 0: Brandon Thomas struck out 13 with no walks for the Monarchs, his second shutout of the Division 2 playoffs. Gavin Lauridsen struck out nine for Foothill. City Section University 8, Jefferson 1: Evan Han had two hits and two RBIs in the City Section Division III championship game. 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.
