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2008
5/24/08 Cal State Dominguez Hills
Courtesy of AV Sports.com
Photo of the Quartz Hill boys celebrate their CIF volleyball championship.
 GO, REBELS! - A partisan Quartz Hill crowd shows its pleasure and support for the Rebels during the CIF-Southern Section Division III championship game Saturday in Carson. Quartz Hill (26-0) defeated Loara, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20, to win the title. High Quality Images of the Quartz Hill Team Hunter Horn BERNARD KANE/Valley Press |
By CRAIG CURRIER
Valley Press Assistant Sports Editor
The second-seeded Quartz Hill High School boys volleyball team completed its 22nd three-game sweep of the season in celebratory fashion Saturday, defeating Loara, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20, in the Southern Section championship game at Cal State-Dominguez Hills.
Quartz Hill (26-0) is only the second area boys volleyball team to advance to the section finals and the first Valley team to win a title. Highland lost to Royal in the Division II championship in 1994.
"Those guys got here and they were runner-up," Rebels coach Justin Harris said. "I don't want to take anything away from that team, they had some great players obviously. It just feels so great to accomplish this."
Hunter Horn dominated the middle early on and the rest opened up from there. Horn had 15 kills and a block, and opposite hitter Ryan Kachold totaled 14 kills and four blocks.
"I'm just lost," Horn said. "It's just now hitting me that we won. It's crazy.
"We've been staring at the bracket for hours (these past few weeks) trying to figure out who would win and who we'd play in the next round."
Quartz Hill added three wins to its amazing 73-0 record in individual games this season. That record includes best-of-three and best-of-five match formats and not pool play at tournaments.
The Rebels dropped just four games all year, all of which came at a Dos Pueblos tournament. They lost twice to Orange Lutheran, once to Crespi and once to Newbury Park - all Division I teams.
Kachold said the streak entered his mind a few times in the playoffs, during a 32-30 second-game win over Downey on Wednesday and once more when Loara (18-3) went ahead 15-12 in the first game on Saturday.
"It definitely gets your heart beating," he said. "You don't want to lose, but then that's the last thing on your mind. You just keep thinking about getting the points."
And the Rebels got the points when they needed them.
They closed the gap to 16-14 and then scored four straight points to seize control. Loara did pull within 24-23 late, but Horn's tip found the floor and Quartz Hill was on its way to the crown.
The late surge erased what had been a shaky start for the Rebels. Four first-game service errors repeatedly stopped momentum early on, which allowed Loara to stay ahead.
But Kachold, Horn and Ian Zavala were blocking just about everything the Saxons hit. A Zavala block pulled Quartz Hill even at 16-16. Zavala had three kills and five blocks - "Those are probably the biggest blocks of his life," Harris said.
Setter Conner Cherland had 42 assists, Chris McCabe had six digs and Willie Napoles totaled four kills. In the final match of his junior season, Evan Mottram had seven kills and three digs.
"You could really tell (Saturday), Evan was concentrating a lot on defense for us," Harris said.
Derek Rhyne, who Harris said he keyed on from the start, led Loara with 11 kills. C.J. Morales had 10 and Bryan Do tallied 34 assists. But the Saxons weren't able to capitalize on Quartz Hill's mistakes.
"They had some very big kids and they were really disciplined," Loara coach Kristi Becker said. "When you get to this level in any division, you're going to face a good opponent. We knew what to expect.
"We knew that they were quick and we knew that their opposite (Kachold) was left-handed. He was a key player for them (Saturday) and probably has been throughout the season. They were better than us, bottom line."
The Saxons beat top-seeded Santa Monica in four games in the quarterfinals and then edged No. 4 Cerritos Valley Christian in five games Wednesday to earn their spot in the championship game. Having seen three of the top four teams, Becker was convinced Quartz Hill was the best.
"I actually thought the seeding was not correct," she said. "I had seen some of the teams that were ranked ahead of us. I hadn't seen Quartz Hill, but I heard about their run. I knew they were going to be good."
While the Rebels do return a strong group of players next year, Harris and Kachold didn't minimize the departure of McCabe and Napoles.
"They are going to be hard spots to fill," Harris said. "We can really build a team around the guys we have coming back, though. It's just are we going to get better? And how much better will these other teams be?"
Said Kachold: "We are losing two great players."
Quartz Hill Boys Dominate Downey in 3-0
Wednesday 7:00 PM May 21, 2008 – AV Hub Staff
Only a closely contested second game prevented Downey from being blown out by a fired up and very intense Quartz Hill volleyball team Wednesday evening in the Quartz Hill High School gymnasium.
Devastating serves by junior Ryan Kachold, huge offensive strikes by Hunter Horn, and amazing play at the net by the smallest member of the team, setter Conner Cherland, provided Downey with little hope for success. After an easy victory in the first game 25-15 for Quartz Hill, the second game score looked more like a college match with numerous tied scores and game point opportunities by both teams. Quartz Hill refused to yield and finally settled the matter 32-30 . The final game 25-17 was never in question with Downey lucky to get more than ten points. Things quickly went south for an excellent Downey squad that was forced into two time outs early in the game.
Quartz Hill’s side of the gymnasium was packed with Rebel supporters and the elite of local volleyball circles. Former AV women’s volleyball stars Tara Henn and Jenna Novelli from L.A. Pierce College made a showing. Todd Cherland , Larry and Allison Volke of the Antelope Valley Volleyball Club were there. Howard Horn, Lancaster School District Administrator of the Year, and his wife Donna watched their son Hunter play. Rob Long of Longshot Photography captured the event on film. It was a great finale as the Quartz Hill team played their last home game of the season.
Quartz Hill will play for the CIF Southern Section Championship Saturday afternoon at Cal State Dominguez Hills at 2:30 p.m.
Quartz Hill earns trip to section finals
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley PressBy JASON GONZALEZ
Valley Press Associate Sports Editor
QUARTZ HILL - For the second straight day Quartz Hill High School beat Downey.
And once again the margin was three.
Tuesday, it was the Rebels' baseball team advancing.
This time around it was the unbeaten Quartz Hill boys volleyball team that towered over the Vikings 25-15, 32-30, 25-17 on Wednesday night at Quartz Hill High School to claim their ticket to the Southern Section Division III championship game.
A feat that only one other Valley team has ever accomplished - the 1994 Highland squad that featured Olympian Ryan Millar.
With that in mind, the 2008 Rebels take only two seniors in their starting six into the big dance on Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills at
2:30 p.m..
"They are perfectionists," Quartz Hill coach Justin Harris said of his players. "It doesn't matter to me which team we get, I normally do … but I'm just glad that we are here."
Hard to argue with no preference on their championship opponent - No. 1 Santa Monica was eliminated in quarterfinals and the Rebels made quick work of No. 3 Downey.
The Rebels will get Loara in the title game matchup, as they defeated Valley 3-2 with a final game win of 15-12.
If there was one advantage Loara has over Quartz Hill it would be that they know what it is like to play in a fourth or fifth game. An advantage that doesn't bother Quartz Hill and their well-versed all-around offense and defense that Downey coach Mark Rand described as the best he's seen this year.
"Their passing, diversity on offense … and their hitters don't make mistakes," Rand said. "That is what sets them apart from everyone else."
This statement proved true in the second of the three Quartz Hill (25-0) wins that featured the longest the Rebels had battled in a game all year long.
Trailing the majority of the first 25 points, Quartz Hill found themselves in a somewhat unfamiliar spot than they were used to. With Downey (21-5) striking first in the game after a quick 10-point loss in the opening game, the Vikings showed some life against the fired up and emotional Rebels.
Though mistakes allowed Quartz Hill climbed back into the contest and tie it at 6-6, Downey was able to build a steady three-point lead and keep it thanks to help from their big men Matt Taylor and Matt Black. The duo have averaged 20-30 kills a game and carried the team all the way to the semis.
And just when it looked like the Vikings were going to hand the Rebels their first game defeat of the year, the Rebels set in and separated themselves in a complete team effort.
With the game tied at 20 the matchup went back and forth, each squad having more than one chance to close out the other. Although thanks to poor serving down the stretch on each end, the Rebels gave way to the always-consistent Hunter Horn and Ryan Kachold to close it out for the 32-30 win and keep the streak alive.
Kachold's kill to finish out the second game didn't only finish off an emotional and physical battle, it looked to kill any life that Vikings had heading into game three after the tight emotional and physically draining game two.
"We haven't had many times where the game was on the line," Harris said. "It was really good for us, we needed to be challenged."
In the final game the Rebels saw little resistance as the solid unit finished the match in dramatic fashion with 5-foot-8 setter Conner Cherland going up for his third block of the game to seal the win.
The confident and smooth setter had 29 assists to go along with three huge blocks, two coming at key points in the Rebels' game two comeback win.
"Last year in the playoffs I was scared," Cherland said. "This year I was really excited and that's what we all need - to keeping winning."
It's hard to argue with numbers, and weighing the results of the Rebels' flawless winning streak, a first-ever section crown seems like a fair bet for the Quartz Hill faithful.
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AV Press Article Saturday, May 17, 2008.
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Saturday, May 17, 2008.
By ERIC BACA
Valley Press Staff Writer
YUCAIPA - They're going back.
For the second year in a row, the Quartz Hill High School volleyball team is heading back to the Southern Section Division III semifinals, after beating host Yucaipa High School, 25-22, 25-18, 25-16 Friday night.
"Sometimes we start out flat and get hot, and other times we start out hot and get flat," coach Justin Harris said. "I'm glad that we got hot.
"I am glad we won this in three games. This was retribution for Paraclete."
The Thunderbirds beat the Spirits Tuesday, preventing the much-anticipated Valley showdown. But the Rebels were playing for their own validation. A chance to get back to the semis after losing a year ago, stands at the front of the minds of the team that only graduated one senior.
"This doesn't mean anything unless we go all the way," Harris said. "If we don't go farther than we did last year with pretty much the same team, than we've stagnated."
No level of stagnation was apparent against the Thunderbirds.
Led by the hefty-hand of junior Ryan Kachold, who muscled out 14 kills and two blocks, the Rebels' ability to adapt quickly both offensively and defensively prevented the Thunderbirds from ever finding a rhythm.
Even after jumping out to the 2-0 cushion, the Rebels continued to flow along, taking full advantage of the momentum earned in the previous games. With the score 22-16 in the finale, Hunter Horn slammed a set-up by Connor Cherland powerfully down the center of the court.
Horn finished off Yucaipa with an ace down the left side of the court. Horn had nine kills, culminating a crescendo of aggressiveness that Harris said will be vital against Downey in Wednesday's semifinal match.
"We need to play like we did tonight, or even a little bit better," he said.
The Rebels' defense caused several momentum stalls for the Thunderbirds. With the Thunderbirds threatening in the second game, and the Rebels up 23-18, Cherland dug what appeared to be a sure point, allowing play to continue and finally setting up Willie Napoles for the second-to-last point of Game 2.
Cherland and libero Chris McCabe's reaction time turned several digs into points. Early in the third game, Cherland dug a hard hit, which was quickly tipped by McCabe back to Cherland for the score. Evan Mottram led the Rebels with nine digs.
Along with the quick hands, the defensive walls of Quartz Hill's front line denied the Thunderbirds the chance to do much more than tip the ball over the net than putting power behind their shots.
"Everybody likes to see the big hits in volleyball," Harris said. "But defense is the most important part of the game. We practice blocking at practice so much, it was good to use it. We always force teams to tip."
The Rebels maintained undefeated games streak to a staggering 63 games
