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The Artesia High girls volleyball team celebrates the program’s first CIF-Southern Section divisional championship in school history. The Pioneers swept Schurr High 25-9, 25-12, 27-25 last Saturday night in the Division 8 finals. PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF.
By Loren Kopff
Sports Editor | Follow X
November 9, 2025
Throughout Artesia High’s magical and historical 2025 regular season, the Pioneers had posted five sweeps against three opponents in three-set matches, coming against John Glenn High twice, Pioneer High twice and Mayfair High once. It would only be fitting that in the biggest match in the history of the program, Artesia would once again bring out the brooms.
The Pioneers defeated Schurr High 25-9, 25-12, 27-25 last Saturday night to win the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 championship. It’s the first divisional title for a program that had advanced to the semifinals once before this season. In 1978, Artesia was swept by South Pasadena High in Division 2A action.
“Honestly, it just feels so unreal, and it’s just a blessing to be here today,” said senior outside hitter DJulianne Goze.
“I am feeling amazed with this team so much,” said senior setter Isabel Cruz. “I love them very much, but this is a team that kept going off from last year. It’s such an amazing feeling with them, especially since we deserved it. I think it was a really good opportunity, especially in the last set. We all pushed, we all fought, we all knew what we wanted, and we were all pushing for it.”
For the Pioneers to have success in sweeping opponents is a story in itself, considering the previous four Artesia teams combined to record a dozen sweeps, not counting tournaments. Then they breezed through the playoffs without dropping a set against Ramona Convent, de Toledo High, Vistamar High, Loma Linda Academy and now Schurr.
“We have worked so hard throughout the whole tournament and coach Juan [Serrano] actually printed the bracket with the scores 3-0, 3-0, 3-0, 3-0,” said Artesia first-year head coach Francisco Serrano. “We planted that seed in all the players and they believed it. They believed every single play.”
“This team, we just really wanted it all,” said Goze. “We wanted to take it all home for our school, for our families, for our parents, but especially for our coaches and for ourselves.”
Second-seeded Artesia (15-10) roared out to leads of 3-0, 7-1, 10-2, 13-3 and 22-7 in the first set as Goze (six kills, three aces, one and a half blocks), Cruz (four aces, one kill) and junior outside hitter Haley Robertson (five kills) were setting the tone.
“They all knew what they wanted,” said Cruz. “They knew where they were; we all had that communication as well. When we were all huddled up, we would tell what’s open, what’s available and we all studied [the opposing players] as well.”
In the second set, the Spartans, who had upset top-seeded Foothill Tech in five sets in the semifinals, had a 4-1 lead after a serving error and consecutive aces from Melina Sanchez, and were up 5-3 before Robertson pounded down three straight kills to give the hosts the lead they would not relinquish.
The story of the second set came when Cruz was serving with the score 11-8 as the first rotation was ending. She would reel off eight straight points with half coming off aces and Goze adding three more kills to her total. Goze would later serve her fourth ace to make it 22-10, then junior libero Averie Garrison ended the set with back to back aces.
“We learned from our first match with Oxford [Academy] in which we lost [in five] when we were winning 2-0…we learned from that and I always keep telling them, they’re going to play harder to win the next set,” said Serrano. “That means [we] have to play harder and defend. That was the number one thing I told them since day one.”
“I’m very confident in my team,” said Goze. “The score was because we worked so hard together, and we kept fighting together.
“I’m sure [Cruz] just tried to keep the momentum, and obviously, I can’t let the momentum go [to waste],” she later said. “So, I went ahead and…just kept going and going.”
The third set would be the defining moment as there were four ties and two lead changes amongst the first eight points. Later in the first rotation, Schurr regained the lead on a pair of aces from Emma Cobian before a kill from Goze started a five-point rally that put Artesia up 14-11 following consecutive aces from Cruz.
She would finish with a match-high 12 aces, but serving isn’t the only thing she excels at. As the quarterback of the team, she’s been a key component in getting the perfect ball to Goze, Robertson, senior outside hitter Camilla Orozco and senior middle blocker Kristina Palafox.
“She has so much experience playing volleyball for a couple of years that it’s easier for her to set to whoever is close to her who’s ready to hit the ball,” said Serrano. “She usually sets it to Camilla because the ball is right there. But with so many years of experience has helped her to where she’s at.”
The Pioneers still had a lead until the Spartans, who did not put together more than three straight points in each of the first two sets, had a four-point rally to take an 18-17 lead. However, after a Goze kill, and two more ties, an ace from Palafox put Artesia in front 21-20. Goze then had two straight kills, and Artesia was two points away from the championship.
“Nerve-wrecking, because from what we knew, they have had history of coming back from down 2-0,” said Serrano of the closing moments of the set. “We were so nervous about that as a team, and we couldn’t let that happen. We just got together and it went through.”
“The message that he gave was nothing is over yet; we need to keep going because they like to come back as in the previous games,” said Goze. “But we needed to keep going and going because it wasn’t yet.”
Schurr had already been involved in a pair of five-set matches in the playoffs and three in the regular season, including a Sept. 18 contest against Bell Gardens High in which the Spartans lost the first two sets before taking the next two.
“I was nervous to the max, but I knew my team had this,” said Cruz. “Yes, we had a couple of mistakes here and there, but we all made up for it with the next play. It was really nerve-wracking; I/m not going to lie.”
But Sanchez, Aleena Aguilera and Brianna Barrios combined for four straight kills to put the Spartans a point from taking the match to a fourth set. They also had a 25-24 advantage, but in typical fashion as they have done all season, Goze tied it with a kill, then Robertson ended the match with two straight kills.
Goze led everyone with 21 kills and had four aces while Robertson added 17 kills. Besides the 12 aces from Cruz, Garrison and Palafox each had a pair and Robertson one. The latter to also combined on a block which tied the third set 19-19.
“Having to know where to set them is something that we’ve practiced for a while,” said Cruz. “But they know where to go; they know where the ball is at. It’s really much the connection that we have, and we have a really great friendship with everybody on the court as well.”
Serrano said he knew from the first day that this team had the capability of winning a CIF divisional championship. Since 2000, the program has seen eight head coaches with none posting a winning record in their first season with Artesia until this season. In fact, only the 2023 team was the only one in at least the past 28 seasons that finished above .500.
“I saw the potential in the players,” he said. “We saw what they’re capable of, and we told them, [they] have the skills, and they just had to believe in themselves. I think that was the hardest part besides working with them during practices.”
Goze, who has been on varsity her entire high school career, when through a 5-13 campaign before reaching the playoffs as a sophomore when that squad went 11-9. Last season the Pioneers finished at 8-10.
“I didn’t know what to expect at first because it was my freshman year,” said Goze. “I was really grateful to be on a varsity team my freshman year. So, I just took from that season and just kept using it and kept learning and learning for my future seasons.”
Artesia will host South East High on Tuesday in the opening round of the CIF Division V State championships.
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