Water Polo

Throughout the season, Arman Momdzhyan saw plenty of double- and triple-team coverage. It led to the towering Momdzhyan being more creative. The Glendale High boys' water polo player adapted to the various defensive schemes and didn't let it affect him from doing what he does best - score goals. “That's what it's all about, being able to adjust and finding ways to make your team better,” said the 6-foot-3 Momdzhyan, a junior driver who scored 136 goals and was named the Pacific League's Most Valuable Player.

The following are playoff previews for Saturday's events involving local teams. GIRLS' WATER POLO Crescenta Valley at Arlington, 4 p.m. : The top-seeded Falcons (30-2) continue their quest for the program's first CIF Southern Section Division V championship with a road contest against Arlington (9-8). Crescenta Valley, which won the Pacific League championship for the fourth straight year before recording an 11-2 opening-round victory against Downey at Pasadena City College, will advance to the semifinals for the third season in a row with a win. Arlington, which finished second in the Inland Valley League, started its playoff run Wednesday with a 12-5 victory against Santa Ynez.

ARCADIA - Stuck in a mini losing streak, the Glendale High girls' water polo team looked to turn around their fortunes heading into their last regular-season Pacific League match Thursday afternoon. With Biyouregh Boghozian and Maddie Corpuz leading the way, the Nitros got back on track and gained some momentum entering the league tournament having clinched no worse than a third-place seed. Boghozian finished with five goals and Corpuz added three to spark Glendale to an 11-5 road win against Arcadia.

LA CRESCENTA - For nearly an hour, players from the Crescenta Valley High and Hoover boys' water polo teams milled around the pool deck soaking in a rainstorm that featured plenty of thunder and lightning. With the Falcons and Tornadoes eager to meet in a Pacific League match Thursday afternoon at Crescenta Valley, the teams were forced to wait out the storm for 45 minutes before getting involved in a high-scoring tilt. Nate Fernandez shook off the delay and answered the call for the Falcons, as he scored a team-high four goals to ignite Crescenta Valley to a 15-13 win. “It was a completely different set of circumstances with the weather,” said Fernandez, who helped Crescenta Valley improve to 6-10, 2-1 in league.

WALNUT - Often times, teams meeting in the playoffs aren't too familiar with each other. That wasn't the case when the Crescenta Valley High boys' water polo team met Walnut on Wednesday afternoon. Crescenta Valley and Walnut played Oct. 23 in a nonleague game. Crescenta Valley Coach Jan Sakonju recorded the match and provided film to each of his players to study in case the teams met in the postseason. The Falcons reviewed the film Monday and Tuesday, but it didn't seem to provide any help in the rematch as Walnut picked up an 8-6 win against visiting Crescenta Valley in a CIF Southern Section Division V first-round match at Mount San Antonio College.

LA CRESCENTA - During a stellar start to the season, the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team has displayed stingy defense, steady, balanced offense, phenomenal work ethic and the ability to take down higher-division heavyweights. But in the span of two days, above all else, the Falcons have displayed sheer dominance. On Wednesday afternoon at CV, the host Falcons announced their presence with authority at the expense of San Marino to the tune of a 19-2 nonleague victory.

BURBANK - Emblematic of the dominance put forth through its undefeated Pacific League run, the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team wasted no time in flexing its might at the onset of the Pacific League Tournament. The Falcons, ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division V, ran off 10 first-quarter goals, converting on 10 of 11 shots and allowing just one shot in return as they never looked back in a 17-4 throttling of Pasadena in the tournament semifinals on Tuesday at Burbank High.

IRVINE - Prior to this week, it could have been argued that despite all the success generated by the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team, fairly or unfairly, the Falcons may have most been known as the program that couldn't finish. After all, four consecutive Pacific League titles combined with several 20-plus win seasons translated into area domination for sure, but also failed to produce one trip to the CIF Southern Section finals. Those thoughts that dominated a week's worth of emotion appeared to be washed away after the top-seeded Falcons' 10-5 victory versus second-seeded Riverside Poly in Saturday's CIF Southern Section Division V championship at Irvine's William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center.

BURBANK - After combining for 19 goals in Tuesday afternoon's Pacific League Tournament semifinal showdown, the Burbank High and Crescenta Valley boys' water polo teams couldn't muster a single tally over the final minute and 32 seconds. But that didn't make the match any less dramatic, particularly the final 34 seconds. "It was 34 seconds and it felt like 10 minutes," said Burbank first-year Coach Kristina Garcia. Both teams had their ups and downs in the span, but it was Burbank that was finally able to run out the clock after a Crescenta Valley gaffe, with Bulldogs co-captain Sean Savoy's tally with 1:32 remaining standing as the game-winner in his team's 10-9 win over the Falcons at Burbank High.