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By Loren Kopff
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the Norwalk High girls volleyball team celebrated it with a Breast Cancer Awareness match against city rival John Glenn High this past Tuesday. The Lady Lancers wore pink shirts during warm-ups while the coaching staff wore pink shirts and ties and once the match began, they had an easy time against the Lady Eagles.
Behind a match-high 16 kills from junior outside hitter Ashley Whittall, nine from senior opposite hitter Norma Marquez and eight more from senior middle blocker Leslie Leanos, Norwalk swept Glenn for the second time this season, winning 25-13, 25-8, 25-13. The Lady Lancers improved to 13-8 overall, 7-1 in the Suburban League and remained half a game behind first place Mayfair High. The win also kept Norwalk two games ahead of Cerritos High.
Norwalk, which never trailed in the match, scored the first seven points of the first set with Marquez recording three kills and senior setter Brenda Hernandez serving three aces. Whittall would have eight of her kills in the opening set which was two more than Glenn had as a team.
In the second set, Norwalk turned a 4-3 lead into a 12-3 advantage as junior setter Anissa Uncapher had three aces. Junior libero Paola Nava would later serve the final six points of the set, the final three on aces.
A 3-2 lead quickly turned into an 11-2 rout in the third set as five different players contributed in some type of offensive result. Senior defensive specialist Kathleen Perez had three aces in that rally as Norwalk served 19 points in the match that were not returned. The Lady Lancers will visit Mayfair on Tuesday with the league title on the line before hosting Artesia High on Thursday.
Glenn was led by senior outside hitter Stephanie Lemus (eight kills) and sophomore middle hitter Gloria De la Cruz (six kills). The Lady Eagles, who never put together more than three straight points at any time, fell to 5-14 overall and 2-5 in the league. Glenn hosted Mayfair on Oct. 22 and will visit Artesia on Tuesday before coming back home to entertain Bellflower High on Thursday. Glenn entered the Mayfair match one game behind La Mirada High for fourth place and the final automatic playoff spot.
In other girls volleyball action, Artesia (6-14, 1-7) hosted La Mirada on Oct. 22 while Cerritos (8-6, 5-3) was home to Bellflower on Oct. 22 and will compete in the Chadwick High Tournament on Saturday. The Lady Dons will travel to La Mirada on Thursday.
Gahr High improved to 13-8 overall and 5-1 in the San Gabriel Valley League after sweeping Lynwood High 25-10, 25-17, 25-15 this past Tuesday. The Gladiators travelled to Warren High on Oct. 22 tied for first place with the Bears and Downey High. Gahr will host Paramount High on Tuesday before visiting Downey on Thursday.
Whitney High was hoping to knock off Calvary Chapel Downey High for the second time this season but it was the Grizzlies who prevailed 25-15, 25-15, 21-25, 25-13 this past Tuesday evening. The Lady Wildcats fell behind 18-5 in the first set but traded point for point early in the second set until a 12-10 Whitney lead turned into a 14-12 deficit. Through the first two sets, the Lady Wildcats (3-11 overall, 2-7 in the Academy League) had 17 kills with four coming from junior outside hitter Karen Kaur, junior libero Allison Oh and junior middle blocker Amy Wang.
In the third set, Whitney had an 11-4 lead thinks to five aces from Oh and had to hang on to the victory. Junior opposite hitter Eunice Shim had four of her six kills in the set. In the fourth set, Whitney couldn’t hold on to leads of 9-3, 15-6, 17-8, 21-15 and 23-20. Kaur also had six kills while Wang added five kills and freshman middle blocker Taylor Genera added four kills and a block. The Lady Wildcats will visit Brethren Christian High this evening before hosting Sage Hill High on Tuesday evening.
FOOTBALL
Gahr was doubled up by Warren 42-21 last Friday night and saw its record drop to 3-4 overall, 1-1 in the San Gabriel Valley League. The Gladiators visit Paramount High tonight. Glenn was blasted by La Mirada 63-0, its worst loss to the Matadores in over 18 years. The Eagles are still winless through seven games as they visit second place Mayfair tonight at Ron Yary Stadium on the Bellflower campus.
Valley Christian High got four touchdown runs from sophomore running back Gianni Hurd as he helped the Crusaders to a 48-14 win over host Whittier Christian High last Friday night. The Crusaders moved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Olympic League as they travel to Heritage Christian High on Saturday night.
CROSS COUNTRY
It was status quo at the top for the Suburban League boys and girls winner at the league’s second cluster meet last Thursday at La Mirada Regional Park. On the boys side, Cerritos junior Bill Chuang won with a time of 16:13 and sophomore Jaineel Patel was 25 seconds behind as the Dons placed four runners in the top nine to come away with the win. Norwalk’s top runners were juniors Alberto Cano (17:33) and Edwin Munoz (17:38) who finished in sixth and seventh places respectively. John Glenn junior Jose Guerrero finished in 11th place with a time of 17:42 while Artesia’s leading runner was senior David Pacheco, a 16th place finisher with a time of 18:04.
For the girls, Norwalk won a league meet for the second time this season as senior Jennifer Melendez (19:25) and sophomores Ruby Galindo (19:49) and Alejandra Ramirez (19:53) came in second, third and fourth places. As a team, Cerritos finished in third place with its top runner being sophomore Brianna Katsuda, who came in eighth place with a time of 20:57.
COACHING OPENINGS
Cerritos High is looking to fill its varsity softball vacancy as well as that of its boys and girls tennis teams All interested candidates are urged to email Cerritos co-athletic directors [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also reach Adams at (562) 926-5566, extension 21820 or Denhart at (562) 926-5566, extension 21808. Cerritos is looking to hire the new coaches as soon as possible.
