By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor To say Pasadena’s volleyball program made positive strides behind first-year coach Emily Fuentes would be an understatement. The Bulldogs won six more matches than in 2016 and nine more than their total in 2015. PHS also made their first playoff appearance since 2009 and Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 4 playoff victory […]
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor
To say Pasadena’s volleyball program made positive strides behind first-year coach Emily Fuentes would be an understatement.
The Bulldogs won six more matches than in 2016 and nine more than their total in 2015.
PHS also made their first playoff appearance since 2009 and Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 4 playoff victory at San Marino in four games was their first postseason win in 11 years.
And while the season came to an end Tuesday night, it was top-seeded Culver City that took down the Bulldogs.
The Centaurs (26-1) earned a 25-9, 25-15 and 25-11 victory over visiting PHS.
Taurie Magee and Divine Johnson combined for 13 kills.
Sophie Lindsay had 16 assists and Jesse Demuth chipped in 4 assists.
Each Divine Johnson, Nia Cathcart, Lauryn James, Elise Valdez, Kailynn Wright, Sophie Lindsay, Malia Terran, Jesse Demuth, Kelcey Velazquez, Julia Kelejian, Emellie Guzman, Sophia DeFrance and Taurie Magee deserve credit for the Bulldogs reaching a new level as a program.
And obviously so does first-year leader, Emily Fuentes.
Quotable:
Pasadena coach Emily Fuentes: “Overall, we had a great season. It’s the farthest these group of girls have ever gone and I am extremely proud of them. A lot of progress was made from basic skills to learning not only how to win, but to finish and execute more games than they did the years before. I had a great group of girls this year as my first year as varsity volleyball head coach and am definitely excited to see what next season has in store for the girls returning.”
Pasadena senior Taurie Magee: “I’m very proud of my team for making history and I’ve learned a lot this past year, and I want the underclassmen to keep this legacy of a new and growing volleyball program at PHS. I am glad I got to go far with the group of girls because we’ve gotten closer and learned a lot from each other, and I’m going to miss them so much.”
Pasadena senior Sophie Lindsay: “All but one of us started high school with no club experience, but we made up for it with hard work and drive. There’s a reason we haven’t been to CIF in ten years. This was the most successful season we have had in all the time I have been at PHS. You can sense Coach Emily’s belief in us. She truly believed we were amazing. Also, we had great support from the school. For example, players from both the boys and the girls basketball teams were at almost all our games this season, despite the fact that our “home” gym was at Marshall. I want to especially thank Coach Brooks, our boys basketball coach, for getting his players there. We came a long way this season; when practices should have started, we had no coach and no gym, yet look at what we accomplished.”
Pasadena Volleyball Win Totals:
2017: 15-10
2016: 9-11
2015: 6-10
