By Rick Assad
It’s time for three local boys’ volleyball teams to step up and serve, spike the ball and dig as they are primed for action and excitement.
The heavyweight on the block is Burroughs High which has been a Pacific League power and a very strong program in Southern California for a long time.
Joel Brinton is the head coach and under his direction the team has been very good and sometimes outstanding.
“Expectations are for another strong season where we hope to teach these kids how to become the best versions of themselves,” he said. “If we are able to work in that direction, we think we can make a great run at the Pacific League and the CIF [Southern Section]. But we just need to focus day to day on improving and learning and training ourselves for those moments.”
The Bears are coming off a season in which they went 30-7 and 10-0 in league action for first place.
Burroughs went to the CIF Division III second round after beating Servite in five sets but lost to St. Margaret’s in four games.
Brinton knows the league isn’t going to be a cakewalk but hopes his team is ready for the grind.
“In league we expect Arcadia and Crescenta Valley to be strong as usual. We also know Burbank has some talented kids and will challenge us,” he said. “Pasadena has improved every year so we expect the same from them and Glendale has a new coach so no doubt he is working hard to make his kids be the very best they can. League will be a battle as it is every year. We look forward to the challenge ahead.”
The Bears have a number of gifted players and will be led by Noah Duffield, Skyy Alston, Marco Santiago-Dorn, Jack Szaras and Gavin Etterbeek.
Other key contributors are Devon Romo, Will Rowan, Riley Brinton and Will Anderson.
Also on the team are Brandon Quintero, Gus Borkin, Greg Guzman, Luke Kang, Eli Bugayong and Joseph Kaufmann.
Burbank finished 8-15 and 1-9 in league for sixth place but is also much improved and could make a splash this season.
The seniors include Kaden Moore, Tyler Tran, Jun Angel, Noah Lam, Kevin Padel, Caiden Kai Abarabar and Farkhat Taishev.
Burbank has several juniors and they are Brandon Chong, Ryan Villaflor, Brayden Kang, Michael Becker, Finian Cassada, Brian Nazariyan, Aidan Casey, Sanasar Kharazian and John Santiago.
Brandon Villaflor is Burbank’s head coach and believes that his team will play hard and compete at a high level in the league.
“As for the Pacific League, it continues to stay strong in competition,” he stated. “We are aiming to be up there among the top and consistently to be a team to deal with.”
A season ago, Providence went 10-19 and 4-8 in the Prep League for fifth place.
The Pioneers have moved to the Liberty League, and this should help with regards to making the postseason.
Steven Tozlian is the new Providence head coach and is trying to set the team up for success.
“I feel that we have the potential to do very well in the Liberty League this year,” he said. “I’m expecting to make it to the playoffs.”
Tozlian looked at the roster and believes that there could be a bright future.
“This roster is very young and inexperienced. Most of our starters have never played varsity volleyball,” he acknowledged. “We will have to lean a lot on our captain, junior [outside hitter] Jaden Casal to provide a lot of our finishing this season from the outside position,”
There are a few others who could help lead this club.
“Besides him, it’s exciting to see how our freshman outside hitter Joseph Sepilian will develop,” Tozlian noted. “Both of them are building a connection with our sophomore setter Cruz Camacho, who is versatile, playing the setter position for the first time ever.”
Also on the team are seniors Nathan Krueger and Nathan Mendez and there are several juniors and includes Tejas Deepak, Daniel Reyes, Joshua Estrada, Emmett Walsh and Luca Darakjian and the sophomores are Connor Wang and Jacob Pniowsky.
