Prep parade: 2005

Hail to the champions!

Valhalla caps season with CIF title

Baseball, softball, swimming, boys tennis ... boys volleyball. What do all these sports have in common, specifically in regard to Valhalla High School? The Norsemen won Grossmont South League or San Diego Section championships (or both) this past spring season.

The Valhalla boys volleyball team matched the school’s swim team’s CIF championship season by capturing the Division III championship May 25 with a come-from-behind 20-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-10, 15-13 victory against San Marcos. The top-seeded Norsemen trailed 0-2 in games with the second-seeded Knights ready to move in for the championship-clinching kill before Valhalla rallied to sweep the final three games.

The Norsemen finished the season 27-10.

With momentum on its side, Valhalla outblocked San Marcos (27-9) in the

third and fourth games to tie the match and finished the five games with nearly double the amount of blocks by the Knights.

Six-foot-five senior setter Andy Frontz helped fire the Norsemen’s pivotal blocking game. Frontz was named the Division III Player of the Year.

Senior Ricky Martin joined Frontz on the All-Division III First Team while senior Kyle Luhnow earned selection to the All-Division III Second Team.

Martin had 11 kills in the championship game while Luhnow had eight blocks and Frontz had 36 assists. Jason Dall contributed nine kills and four service aces.

Eight teams were entered in the Division III playoffs. Joining Valhalla and San Marcos were San Dieguito Academy (seeded third), Valley Center (seeded fourth), La Jolla (seeded fifth), Otay Ranch (seeded sixth), University City (seeded seventh) and University of San Diego High School (seeded eighth). All the higher-seeded teams came away with victories in their opening quarterfinal-round matches: Valhalla defeated USDHS 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 while San Marcos eliminated University City 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23. In other quarterfinal matchups, Valley Center swept past La Jolla 25-14, 25-23, 25-16 while San Dieguito Academy downed Otay Ranch in four games 16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-15.

Valhalla defeated Valley Center in the semifinals in four games, winning by 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 after dropping the opening game 22-25. San Marcos also won a four-game match in its semifinal by defeating San Dieguito Academy 25-18, 25-12, 25-27, 25-18.

Valhalla finished Grossmont South League play undefeated at 10-0. San Marcos (Valley League) and Valley Center (Valley League) both entered postseason competition with 9-1 league records while Otay Ranch (South Bay League) was 8-2.

San Dieguito finished the season 20-11 while Valley Center finished 21-9. Otay Ranch finished 22-13 while completing its first varsity campaign.

Frontz and Martin keyed a highly-talented group of players named to the

All-Division III First Team. Joining the two Norsemen on the All-Division III First Team were Valley Center junior Alex Dapron, Otay Ranch junior Adam El-Rakabawy, San Marcos seniors Josh Jordan and Dylan McCarthy, San Dieguito Academy seniors Steve Leffel and Jimmy Lundgren, University City junior Soren Rosier and La Jolla senior Cooper Waddell.

All-Division III Second Team selections included Valley Center sophomore Chase Boberg, San Marcos sophomores Jesse Bunker and Stephen Reed, La Jolla seniors Ben Hansen and Eric Signoret, USDHS junior Ed Howel, San Dieguito Academy senior Dan Plotkin, University City junior Daniel Spinosa and Valley Center senior Chris Wheatley.

Valhalla captured its ninth consecutive Grossmont South League boys swimming championship this past spring while earning shares of co-championships in baseball, softball and boys tennis.

Valhalla tied Granite Hills with a 13-2 league record to share the 2005

Grossmont South League baseball championship. Valhalla and Granite Hills shared the Grossmont South League girls softball title also with 9-1 league records while Valhalla and Steele Canyon shared the Grossmont South League boys tennis title with 9-1 league records.

The Norsemen boys swim team claimed the Division II team title after finishing second last year. Valhalla finished runner-up to Mission Hills for this year’s Division III softball championship while the Norsemen’s baseball team advanced as far as the Division III semifinals before falling to eventual CIF champion USDHS.

Valhalla joined La Costa Canyon (Division I), Westview (Division II) and Francis Parker (Division IV) as this year’s San Diego Section boys

volleyball champions. Top-seeded La Costa Canyon (30-6) defeated

third-seeded Rancho Bernardo (27-13) in the Division I championship game while top-seeded Westview (21-11) downed third-seeded Mt. Carmel (10-20) in the Division II title game and top-seeded Francis Parker (32-1) topped second-seeded Santa Fe Christian (26-7) for the Division IV championship.

Grossmont North League champion Grossmont (20-8) ended its season with a loss to Mt. Carmel in the Division II playoffs. The Sundevils won 25-20, 25-17, 22-15, 25-21 to advance to the semifinals against second-seeded Scripps Ranch, defeating the Falcons (16-17) in four games to reach the championship round.

League champions this season included San Pasqual and Carlsbad (co-Avocado League), La Costa Canyon (Palomar League), Valley Center and San Marcos (co-Valley League), Clairemont (Harbor League), Francis Parker (Western League), Morse (Eastern League), Eastlake (Mesa League), Hilltop (South Bay League) and Santa Fe Christian (Coastal League).

Joining La Costa Canyon and Rancho Bernardo in the Division I semifinals were fifth-seeded Carlsbad (17-6) and second-seeded Poway (27-11). LCC swept Carlsbad in three games while Rancho Bernardo upset Palomar League rival Poway in five games.

In the Division II semifinals, Westview topped fourth-seeded San Pasqual (20-6) while Francis Parker ousted fifth-seeded Bishop¹s (12-14) and Santa Fe Christian defeated third-seeded St. Augustine (27-10) in the Division IV semifinals.

La Costa Canyon’s Chase Budinger and Westview’s Dixon Ruecker were selected as the Division I and Division II Players of the Year, respectively.

Eastlake, Hilltop lead horde of

Metro teams into postseason action

The Metro Conference, specifically the Mesa League, produced a banner season in boys volleyball this past spring. Six teams qualified for the San Diego Section playoffs, including four from the Mesa League.

Eastlake captured this year’s Mesa League championship with a perfect 10-0 league record. Hilltop won the South Bay League title with a 9-1 league mark. Joining Eastlake in the Division I playoffs were Mesa

League rivals Montgomery, Chula Vista and Bonita Vista. Otay Ranch, the second-place finisher in the South Bay League, qualified for the Division III playoffs.

Truly, it was a season of plenty — at least as far as the number of playoff qualifiers. None of the six teams, however, advanced beyond the quarterfinal round. Five of the six teams, in fact, were eliminated in their first playoff match.

Still, the numbers angle has to impress. The six South County qualifiers matches the six qualifiers from the Palomar League. The Valley League sent four teams to postseason competition while the Avocado League qualified three teams.

The power base remains, for the most part, in North County. Of the six Palomar League teams entered in this year’s divisional playoffs, La Costa Canyon and Rancho Bernardo paired up in the Division I title match while Westview and Mt. Carmel matched up for the Division II championship.

Valhalla won this year’s Division III title while Francis Parker, which some experts ranked No. 1 in the state, captured the Division IV championship.

Eastlake finished ahead of Montgomery (6-4), Chula Vista (6-4) and Bonita Vista (5-5) in league play. The Titans drew the fourth seed in the Division I playoffs by virtue of their 18-12 regular season record. La Costa Canyon entered the playoffs seeded first, followed by Poway (seeded second) and Rancho Bernardo (seeded third).

Montgomery, Chula Vista and Bonita Vista all opened with first-round matchups, with Montgomery claiming the only win for the Metro Conference. The visiting Aztecs broke a 2-2 standoff with Eastern League champion Morse, winning the final game 15-13 after claiming the opening game 25-13 and winning the third game 25-20. Montgomery then drew top-seeded LCC in the quarterfinals, falling 25-7, 25-15, 25-10.

Fifth-seeded Carlsbad (16-6) eliminated Bonita Vista (10-11) in three games: 25-12, 25-13, 25-14. Torrey Pines, the last-place finisher in the Palomar League, ousted Chula Vista in three games: 25-16, 25-12, 25-15.

Carlsbad drew Eastlake in the quarterfinals and the Mesa League champions appeared to capitalize on their home court advantage by taking a 2-0 lead in games, 25-21, 25-16. However, the visiting Lancers

capitalized on their opportunities to sweep the final three games 25-20, 25-21, 15-10 to end the Titans’ otherwise standout season.

Navarre Prosdocimi -- the lone Eastlake player named to the

All-Division I First Team -- keyed the Titans’ early surge against Carlsbad.

Hilltop defeated visiting Castle Park in straight sets 25-17, 27-17, 25-14 to officially claim its second consecutive South Bay League championship. Senior outside hitter Anthony King led the Lancers’

championship-clinching effort with 21 kills while junior middle blocker Roger Davis added 10 kills and seven blocks) and junior setter Tyler Reeves (contributed 44 assists.

The victory raised Hilltop’s overall record to 20-10 to mark the third consecutive season the team has racked up 20 wins in one season. The win, coupled with Otay Ranch’s five-sets loss to Mar Vista, also gave the Lancers the league’s automatic playoff berth. The Mustangs finished in second place with an 8-2 league record, trailing Hilltop’s 9-1 league record.

Otay Ranch had ended the Lancers’ 10-game winning streak in late April and with a season-ending win against the Mariners could have tied Hilltop for a co-championship.

The Lancers’ league championship season, however, ended with a five-sets loss to fourth-seeded San Pasqual in the quarterfinal round of the Division II playoffs. Hilltop had earned a first-round bye as the fifth

seed in the bracket. The Golden Eagles eliminated the Lancers after rebounding from an early 2-1 lead by Hilltop, which captured the first game 25-22 and the third game 25-23 before dropping the final two games

25-14 and 15-3. Gabe Wessel keyed the Lancers with 21 kills while Davis led the team with nine blocks and Reeves finished with 59 assists. Alex Hernandez contributed 19 digs while teammate Danny Payne had 16 digs.

San Pasqual had swept the teams’ non-league matchup in early April.

A regular season highlight for Hilltop was its upset of Bishop’s to win the Silver Division of the Rancho Bernardo tournament. The Lancers, who overcame a great deal of personal adversity over the course of the

season, also won the consolation championship of the La Jolla Beach/City Invitational.

Hilltop jump-started league play with a 18-25, 25-22, 27-25, 27-25 victory against Otay Ranch.

Post-season accolades went to six Lancers who were named to the All-South Bay League team and three players who earned honors as All-Division II selections. Reeves and Wessel were both named First Team All-South Bay League selections while second team

all-league honors were bestowed on King and Davis. Senior Andrew O’Connell and junior Martin Rodriguez both earned honorable mention recognition.

Reeves earned further distinction by being named to the All-Division II First Team while Davis and Wessel were selected for the All-Division II Second Team. King and O’Connell were named to represent Hilltop in

the Mesa-South Bay Senior All-Star Game on June 8 at Otay Ranch.

Junior Adam El-Rakabawy keyed Otay Ranch’s debut varsity campaign by earning selection as the South Bay League Player of the Year and also earning a spot on the All-Division III First Team. The Mustangs, who

finished regular season play 22-12 overall, had two other players picked for all-league honors: junior Thomas Ellis (First Team All-South Bay League) and junior Garrett Davis (Second Team All-South Bay League).

Like Hilltop, however, Otay Ranch’s season of excellence ended abruptly in postseason competition with a quarterfinal-round loss to third-seeded San Dieguito Academy in the eight-team Division III draw.

The Mustangs showed spunk by winning the first game 25-16 but dropped the next three games in succession — 25-23, 25-16, 25-15 — to bow out of the playoff tournament.

Mar Vista, keyed by all-league first team pick Jacob Penolio, finished third in the South Bay League standings with a 7-3 league record but did not qualify for the playoffs with a 12-11 overall record.

First Team

Elias Alarcon (Eastlake), 12

Ben Farris (Bonita Vista), 12

Alex Garibay (Eastlake), 12

Andrew Yturralde (Bonita Vista), 12

Navarre Prosdocimi (Eastlake), 11

Jeff Rapp (Montgomery), 12

Player of the Year

Elias Alarcon (Eastlake)

Championship Team

Eastlake Titans

Second Team

Michael Dowell (Chula Vista), 12

Nic Radichel (Eastlake), 10

Reggie Barretto (Montgomery), 12

Sean Mariota (Bonita Vista), 12

Gabriel Sanchez (Eastlake), 12

Andy Castiglione (Bonita Vista), 12

League Standings

School W-L

Eastlake 12-0

Bonita Vista 8-4

Montgomery 5-7

Chula Vista 4-8

Sweetwater 0-11

First Team

Jordan Hanrahan (Mar Vista), 12

Jose Acuna (Mar Vista), 12

Anthoney Johns (Castle Park), 12

Demarco Sampson (Castle Park), 12

Chet Teofilo (Hilltop), 12

Jarred Pierce (Hilltop), 12

Player of the Year

Jordan Hanrahan (Mar Vista)

Championship Teams

Hilltop Lancers, Mar Vista Mariners

Second Team

Jose Sahagun (Mar Vista), 12

Matt Mount (Castle Park), 12

Ricardo Ortega (Hilltop), 12

Brad Benton (Hilltop), 12

Jeremiah Harrington (Hilltop), 12

Edward Gamboa (Southwest), 12

League Standings

School W-L

Mar Vista 8-3

Hilltop 8-3

Castle Park 6-5

Southwest 0-10