Gladiators Collapse Late After Taking First Game From Warren

By Loren Kopff

Legendary Gahr girls volleyball head coach Sonny Okamoto knows his team has little to no chance in knocking off Downey anytime soon. So, in order to stay competitive in the San Gabriel Valley League each season, Warren seems to be that one opponent the Gladiators can steal a victory from here and there.
Gahr and Warren split their two matches in 2005 and in 2007 and the Gladiators were hoping to secure at least another split in 2009 but the Bears got the upper hand 19-25, 25-14, 25-19, 26-24 last Thursday afternoon at Gahr. Coupled with a victory at Paramount this past Tuesday afternoon, the Gladiators entered its Oct. 22 match at Downey with an overall mark of 9-9 and a league record of 3-2, good enough for third place.
The Gladiators led all the way in the first game against the Bears, paced by the hitting of senior outside hitter Tiffany McCray (seven kills) and junior outside hitter Annie Reyes (six kills). Gahr was looking strong in the opening moments of the second game as Reyes added two more kills and junior middle blocker Jillian Tiedeman had a pair of aces. But the Bears and their balanced attack of Heather Adamson, Chelsea Cabrajac, Mallory Hill and Franny Vaaulu rallied back to take an 8-6 lead and when Adamson had four aces plus a kill, Warren was up 15-8. Gahr would post only four kills in the game as it was slightly aided by Warren mistakes.
“We haven’t done anything together as a team this year,” Okamoto said. “That’s the difficult part. We’re starting to get healthy but, I’ll make it real simple. Cerritos is good because they play as a team. I think they play better as a team right now than a lot of teams around here. Valley [Christian] might be the other one that plays well as a team.”
On the strength of three straight aces from senior setter Leeanne Currie, the Gladiators were sitting with a 9-5 lead in the third game. But Adamson countered with three of her own and eventually the Bears opened up a 16-11 lead. Cabrajac, who has been Warren’s leader the past four seasons despite being injured as a sophomore, had five kills and two aces in the third game. She would lead everyone with 16 kills.
“She tried to take over the game and the thing I told my kids was the same thing that happened to them,” Okamoto said. “It takes a team to win the game and when she tried to take it on her own shoulders, it was very difficult for her to do that. It gave us an opportunity. They have weak links just like I have weak links.”
Warren made sure the Gladiators wouldn’t jump out to another early lead as Adamson and Sam Madrid each had a kill and a shared block to help Warren lead 10-4 in the fourth game. Gahr did come back and tied the game four times, the last when Warren was called for a lift violation making it a 24-24 contest. But Hill and Lauren McCaughan ended the last ditch attempt with kills. McCray led the Gladiators with 14 kills while Reyes had a dozen kills along with four aces. Junior middle hitter Chelsea Heyward was next in line with six kills as Gahr is still looking to find that consistent offensive attack.
“I thought Tiffany has played pretty aggressive since she’s been injured,” Okamoto said. “Hopefully her body will hold up the rest of the year. I need her at least for the Paramount games.”
Gahr will participate in the Marlborough Tournament on Saturday, then will host the bottom feeders of the league-Dominguez and Lynwood on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. As for Gahr’s playoff chance this season, it will be determined on the final week of the season when the team goes to Warren, then hosts Paramount. Dating back to 1998, the Gladiators are 20-3 against Paramount but just 7-16 against Warren.
“I think we can [beat Warren],” Okamoto said of the next meeting. “The way they played against us, I think we can. But they beat Downey in our tournament [last month]. If we take care of our business against Paramount, we have a chance.”