Volleyball

During his beach volleyball heyday, Bernie Holtzman had the kind of fun in the sand that Frankie Avalon had on a surf board. Just as Frankie and Annette Funicello honed their skills in the 1965 movie "Beach Blanket Bingo," Holtzman honed his skills at Santa Monica and Will Rogers state beaches, playing doubles and full-team games on the dunes, during the 1940s. Holtzman, now 84, was known as one of the best beach volleyball players on the Southern Californian coast by the time he was in his late teens and early 20s. With longtime doubles partner Gene Selznick, who is credited with inventing the spike while competing with Holtzman against a slew of volleyball greats, Holtzman took first place in dozens of tournaments.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - It was anyone's guess how the first game between the Flintridge Prep or San Marino High girls' volleyball teams would impact both sides moving forward in the match Tuesday. The Rebels faced game-point and were down by nine before they tied the Titans in the opener with a nine-point run. San Marino settled down to halt the Prep push and take the first game. "They had a real strong server on the back line and once you give up some points it's easy to give up a lot of points," said San Marino Coach Gordon Anderson of Prep's Daniella Motte, who had four aces in the first game and six in the match.

LA CANADA - Handling an increased work load suits Charles McCarthy fine. The St. Francis High senior volleyball player doesn't mind being the main offensive threat for the Golden Knights, though there's a preference to provide him with some assistance. McCarthy stepped up again and enjoyed another big effort Monday, as he recorded 13 kills to help visiting St. Francis record a 25-17, 25-20,19-25, 25-21 nonleague win against neighbor Flintridge Prep. "There's a lot of weight on me to perform offensively," said McCarthy, an outside hitter who helped the Golden Knights advance to the playoffs last season.

LA CANADA - There were numerous occasions when the St. Francis High volleyball team was asked to rally from extreme and unusual setbacks Thursday night when it hosted Crespi in a Mission League match. It appeared the Golden Knights were up to the task after they appeared to take a one-game lead after three frames and held match-point three times, but two key no-calls from the officials proved devastating in a five-game loss to the Celts, 20-25, 25-22, 28-26, 21-25, 19-17. Charles McCarthy seemed he was going to bring St. Francis (3-3, 0-2 in league)

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - While the Glendale Adventist Academy girls' volleyball team found a spark midway through the second game of Thursday's Liberty League match, visiting Providence made sure the Cougars never really caught fire. The Pioneers withstood a late rally from the Cougars in the second game and the early third-game momentum it generated for Glendale Adventist to finish off a 25-11, 25-20, 25-16 sweep. “In games two and three they were more prepared and they did a lot better job of ball control than they did in game one,” Pioneers Coach Josh Eggleston said of the Cougars.

Once he became a member of the St. Francis High varsity volleyball team as a freshman, Mike Bacall set a goal - to earn a spot on the All-Mission League's first team. Armed with remarkable organizational skills and the willingness to work hard at reaching his set target, Bacall showed marked improvement each season. In a league traditionally filled with future Division I-caliber athletes, Bacall fell short of securing a spot on the all-league team during his first three seasons.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - There isn't a sense of panic surrounding the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy volleyball team. Not after splitting its first two Mission League matches. However, Flintridge Sacred Heart first-year Coach Ernest Banaag said there might be some tinkering with the lineup. “Right now, we are inexperienced,” Banaag said after Harvard-Westlake recorded a 25-17, 25-7, 25-13 against host Flintridge Sacred Heart on Tuesday night. “You can sit hear and nitpick, yell and scream, but we will get back at it and make some adjustments.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE - With Noel Wong in command with her serving, the Crescenta Valley High girls' volleyball team liked its chances. The Falcons turned to Wong to provide her share of aces on Thursday afternoon to earn a 25-17, 14-25, 25-15, 25-20 Pacific League win against host Hoover. Crescenta Valley improved to 8-9, 6-7 in league and moved into fourth place in league after Pasadena (5-8 in league) lost to Burroughs on Thursday. The top four teams in league automatically qualify for the playoffs.

VALENCIA - Cliched as it can sound, volleyball often is a game of runs. That proved true, at least for the first three games, on Tuesday evening when Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy faced off with host Valencia Valencia in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs. But, while the Tologs and Vikings traded momentum and games, rarely did they trade points over the first three games, which were uncharacteristic of a close match in their lopsided scores. When the fourth and deciding fifth games played out, a back-and-forth nature somewhat came to fruition, but Sacred Heart's inexperience so too came to the forefront, as the upstart Tologs lost their upset bid to the Vikings, 10-25, 25-12, 5-25, 25-18, 15-12.

Host Arcadia blanked the Crescenta Valley girls' varsity volleyball team, 3-0, in a Pacific League match on Tuesday. The Falcons, who dropped to 8-2 overall and to 3-2 in league, lost 25-22, 25-14 and 25-20. In an earlier league contest last Friday, the Falcons beat visiting Hoover, 3-1. The Falcons won the first game, 25-7, lost the second game, 28-26, but won the next two games, 25-8 and 25-11, to take the match. Laura Boyd and Ashley Srebnack both contributed seven kills.

LOS ANGELES - A long season filled with excitement and wild success for the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team contained none of those elements Saturday evening. The visiting Rebels were simply overmatched versus powerful and clinical Los Angeles Cathedral, as the reigning CIF Southern Section Division IV champions defeated Flintridge Prep, 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 in the divisional quarterfinals. With the win, the top-seeded Phantoms (26-9) move onto next Wednesday's divisional semifinals.

LA CAÑADA - A second-round playoff match is not supposed to be easy, especially after a five-game first-round match. Yet it was for the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team on Thursday night. The Rebels didn't face much of a challenge from visiting Salesian, needing just 66 minutes to eliminate the Mustangs with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-18 win in the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs. Prep (19-7) will next play top-seeded Cathedral or Katella in Saturday's quarterfinals.

LA CAÑADA - Whether it has been playoff basketball or postseason volleyball, the fanatic students at Flintridge Prep have seen their share of memorable contests. They saw another thrilling match Tuesday night when the Prep boys' volleyball team took on Cerritos Whitney in a first-round contest of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs. PHOTOS: Flintridge Prep vs. Whitney CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs The Rebels took an exciting first game and dropped the next two games by a combined five points before winning the fourth game by three points, setting up a winner-take-all fifth game.

There was no clean sweep in local boys' volleyball when the CIF Southern Section released its playoff pairings Saturday morning. Reigning Prep League champion Flintridge Prep will carry the torch as the lone postseason entry when the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs begin Tuesday evening. Flintridge Prep (17-7) will host Cerritos Whitney (14-5), the Academy League third-place entry, in the first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Even though the Rebels are no stranger to the postseason, there are still several unknowns.

LA CAÑADA - Flintridge Prep made the short trip to St. Francis High School to take on the Golden Knights for the second time this season in a nonleague volleyball match. The contest was scheduled just recently by Rebels Coach Sean Beattie, who wanted to avoid an extended layoff before his No. 9-ranked squad went into the CIF-Southern Section Division IV playoffs next. “We just scheduled this match a week ago because we were going to have a week off and I wanted to make sure we had a game between our last game and playoffs,” said Beattie, whose team lost to St. Francis in four games earlier in the season.

ARCADIA - It was a must-win situation for the Crescenta Valley High boys' volleyball team Tuesday evening, but Falcons Coach John Nelson wasn't quite sure why they didn't play like it. The Falcons needed to win their regular season finale against host Arcadia to finish in fourth place in the Pacific League standings and, in turn, earn an automatic playoff berth. Arcadia needed the win just as badly, as both teams went into the match at 5-6 in league play. Ultimately, the Falcons were flat and succumbed to a more energized team that played up to the high stakes and were swept, 25-23, 25-16, 25-17.

LA CRESCENTA - What could have very well been a lost weekend for the Crescenta Valley High boys' volleyball team may turn out to be the opposite. Tired, twice-beaten and relegated to the seventh-place game in the silver division, the Falcons showed resiliency in rallying to defeat Woodland Hills Taft High's “B” team 17-25, 26-24, 15-10 in the final game of 12th annual Crescenta Valley Tournament on Saturday afternoon. “This weekend wasn't just about having fun, it was about getting ready for next week and hopefully the playoffs,” Crescenta Valley High senior Freedom Tripp said.

LA CRESCENTA - For the first time, the Crescenta Valley High Varsity Boys' Volleyball Tournament expanded to include 20 teams in its 12th year. The Falcons will have to wait to at least one more year to add another first to their tournament - their first championship after going 1-2 in pool play Friday, the first day of the annual tournament. “We've never won this tournament - never,” Crescenta Valley Coach John Nelson said. “It kills me, but that's because we always have good teams here; it's just competitive.” Teams from as nearby as La Cañada and far away as San Diego came to Crescenta Valley for the tournament, which was bumped up from 16 to 20 squads this year.

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL Flintridge Prep 3, Pasadena Poly 0: Mike Lii finished with 26 assists Friday to lead the Rebels to a 36-34, 25-8, 25-15 Prep League road victory. Flintridge Prep, which clinched the league title Wednesday, improved to 17-6 and finished up league at 8-0. “It's not an easy task going undefeated in our league,” said Flintridge Prep Coach Sean Beattie, who got seven kills apiece from Chadd Cosse and Dante Fergoso and six from Kareem Ismail. “They came together the whole time.