Water Polo

LA CRESCENTA - Scoring goals certainly hasn't been a problem lately for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team. Pasadena found out first-hand Thursday afternoon during a Pacific League match just how explosive the Falcons' offense can be after they set a season-best goal mark. Shannon Hovanesian finished with six goals and Ashley Taylor and Elissa Arnold had five apiece to lead host Crescenta Valley to a 28-4 victory. Crescenta Valley (14-1, 3-0 in league)

WALNUT - Stop the press, the Glendale High boys' water polo team is heading to the finals. Inland Valley champion Riverside Poly found the first task impossible, which made the latter a reality for the top-seeded Nitros, who qualified to the program's first-ever championship match by defeating the Bears, 14-7, at Wednesday evening's CIF Southern Section Division V semifinal at Mt. San Antonio College. With the win, Pacific League champion Glendale (21-5) advanced to Saturday's divisional final at Irvine's William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center at 5:30 p.m. versus another Poly, this the third seed from Pasadena (25-2)

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - It took three and half hours longer than expected, but for the Flintridge Prep boys' water polo team, Wednesday evening's CIF Southern Section playoff win was worth the wait. The host Rebels, who were informed a few hours before the start of their Division V playoff match versus Whittier High that their pool was inadequately sized, made Burbank High their home in winning 12-7. With the triumph, the Prep League runner-up Rebels (17-8), the fourth seed, earned advancement to Saturday's divisional quarterfinal at Inland Valley League champion Riverside Poly (17-10)

LA CRESCENTA - Overwhelming defense was enough to obscure an underwhelming offensive effort from the Crescenta Valley High boys' water polo team on Thursday in a 13-5 home victory over Pasadena that put the Falcons in good shape for a high league tournament seed and put the Bulldogs' playoff fate in some doubt. “This was a must-win for us, as it was for them,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Jan Sakonju, whose team improved to 10-13 and 3-2 in league, where it is assured no worse than a second-place tie with Burbank in the regular season, provided it can beat archrival Arcadia on Wednesday.

A scheduled arraignment for a Hoover High standout and former UCLA water polo accused of rape ended anticlimactically Thursday with no charges being filed, though prosecutors said that may yet change. Hakop Jack Kaplanyan, a redshirt freshman, was suspended from UCLA after his arrest earlier this month.  "All we can say is the matter is under review for filing consideration," said Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. Kaplanyan, who is at home in Glendale and out on $200,000 bail, said the future of the case is uncertain.

GLENDALE - Things appear to be taking shape for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team. They've begun the week as the top-ranked team in the latest CIF Southern Section Division V poll and they continue to score goals at an alarming rate while racking up lopsided victories in the process. Crescenta Valley turned to Elissa Arnold on Tuesday afternoon against host Glendale in a Pacific League match and Arnold showed she could handle the workload as she scored a game-high nine goals to lead Crescenta Valley to a 16-2 victory.

PASADENA - In what could easily have been a prequel to a matchup in the upcoming CIF-Southern Section Division V girls' water polo playoffs, Redlands East Valley took on Crescenta Valley at high noon Saturday in the pool at Pasadena City College. Both teams clearly viewed the nonleague contest with an eye to the upcoming Division V playoffs, or the “real season,” as CV Coach Brent Danna put it, because, if the rankings and the yet-to-be-released brackets hold, the top-ranked Falcons will be matching up with the No. 4-ranked Wildcats again, but this time with a berth in the finals on the line.