The Indian Springs boys volleyball team defeated Miller 3-0 on Friday for its 10th consecutive victory, which improved its record to 18-1 overall and 9-0 league as it headed into Monday’s match against formidable Rialto.
The Coyotes are three games ahead of Miller in the Mountain Valley League race.
But is that enough to gain the respect of classmates who don’t see volleyball as macho as, say, football, basketball, wrestling or baseball?
The Coyotes don’t care. They know they’re athletic. And tough.
“People say it’s a girls sport,” Coyotes junior setter/outside hitter Joshua Cuen said. “But it takes a lot of strength and knowledge. And you need to know where to be and how to block and hit.”
Cuen, like teammate Luis Hernandez, also plays soccer. Hernandez was the Coyotes’ goalkeeper for three years until an injury ended his 2018-2019 season.
Now the senior is helping the first-place volleyball team.
“People say, ‘Isn’t volleyball a girls sport?” Hernandez said. “I just tell them to come out, that they’ll like it. I think it’s a manly sport.”
Attendees ‘teary-eyed’ over Brand award
Saturday night was memorable for Citrus Belt area athletic directors as three were honored at the California State Athletic Directors Association banquet in San Diego.
Pacific High’s Carmel Brand was named the CSADA state athletic director of the year – the state’s highest honor — for her work increasing athletic participation at Pacific and for promoting girls and women’s sports all over the region.
CSADA conference manager Ralph Trigsted, the former athletic director at Fullerton’s Sunny Hills High, said attendees got emotional when Brand spoke.
“Her group was so excited when she gave her speech – and of course she got a standing ovation – that some were almost in tears,” Trigsted said. “Some people at the front table were teary-eyed, too.”
In addition to Brand’s award, Centennial’s Bill Gunn was named the CIF State Southern Section AD of the year and Yucaipa’s Matt Carpenter received the Norm MacKenzie “Rookie” award, an honor that goes to an outstanding AD with fewer than five years of experience.
“It was a great conference,” Trigsted said. “We had over 600 athletic directors from all over the state in attendance to hear the speakers at the workshops (which) was amazing. Some of them were standing-room-only and one of them was set up for 500 people.”
Among the speakers was Don Lugo High grad Leah O’Brien Amico, a three-time Olympic softball gold medalist who lives in Eastvale and is an ESPN analyst for college softball. She hit .750 (9 for 12) in the 1994 College World Series and is well-known in Inland Empire softball circles.
Petrus new Lucerne Valley football coach
Pat Petrus is the new eight-man football coach at Lucerne Valley.
Petrus, 62, faces a stiff challenge as the Mustangs went 1-8 last season, were outscored 409-58 and are 9-28 over the past four years.
A main problem, Petrus said, is that the student body is only about 200 students. The Mustangs suited up only 10 players for some games last year.
“We’re trying to get people to come out and play football,” said Petrus, who is also the Mustangs’ softball coach. “We’re going to start out teaching the basics and we’ll be working on their confidence. We want to have a winning program and one the kids can look forward to.”
Petrus was formerly the junior varsity football coach for the Mustangs and started the school’s soccer program.
Lucerne Valley was strong in football in the 1990s, especially under former coaches Dave Griffiths and Ron Perkins (now both at Big Bear). One bonus is the school has a principal who knows sports, as Nate Lambdin is the former Victor Valley College baseball coach.
Briefly
One-time Serrano High student Maddie Mastro, 19, won the U.S. Open Women’s Halfpipe finals last week … The Southern California regional champion Kaiser High football team was honored Saturday at the Inland Empire 66ers baseball game at San Manuel Stadium … Chino High is seeking a girls soccer coach and a boys basketball coach.
John Murphy may be reached at berdooman@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat
