Women's Volleyball

Griffins headed to state championships again

At 28-0 and headed to their second-consecutive Final Four, the Grossmont College Women’s Volleyball team is a bona fide state power.

Head Coach Jamie Ivers has built the program to new heights since taking over in 2006. The Griffins have won 5-consecutive PCAC Championships, and were the 2013 runner-up in the state championship.
Ivers was also named the Region’s Coach of the Year for the second time.

“I think coach Ivers is so successful because she is constantly putting us first and thinking of ways to push us on and off the court,” said sophomore setter Rachel Linden.

Grossmont’s domination of the 2014 season has seen them drop only eight sets all year.

“She is always going above and beyond expectations as a coach in every aspect and truly cares about us as people,” said Linden, who has 525 assists and 32 aces on the year.
Linden has split time with setter Brooke Wheeler who has 534 assists.

On the court the Griffins have shown great depth, and given Ivers the tough task of finding time for all of the talent.

“In August both my assistant and I realized that we have a great deal of depth and a great deal of driven players, who we felt could go into the match in any situation and get us a win,” said Ivers.
That depth was utilized in Grossmont’s five-set win over Cypress on December 2nd to advance to the state finals.

After a flat start saw them drop their first set at home since December 3rd, 2013, Ivers was looking for a boost. Ivers put sophomore OH Kela Simmons into the contest looking for instant offense. Simmons, who didn’t see the court in the previous match, came through with a dominating performance and 10 kills. Ivers also used left-handed Cody Franks in two key situations, and Franks delivered a pair of clutch kills each time.

“The culture and atmosphere of the team was established from the very beginning of season. Jamie's drive to push us to our very best as not only athletes, but also as people creates a competitive yet fun gym to be in,” said Simmons.

Simmons said that the team culture is what makes the Griffins a winner.

“The culture and atmosphere of the team was established from the very beginning of season. Jamie's drive to push us to our very best as not only athletes, but also as people creates a competitive yet fun gym to be in,” said Simmons.

“The discipline and selflessness that Jamie instilled in us has strengthened our team mentally and physically. The talent on our team goes beyond measure, but all the work Jamie does for us, we grind that much harder to reciprocate the energy,” Simmons said.

Outside Hitter Lexi Reddick has been a steady force, and was named a Second-team All American, and All-State pick. Reddick’s 382 kills are 7th-best in the state.

Grossmont's defense at the net has seen them amass a state-leading 284 blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Gillian Newman leads the team with 75 blocks. Also in on the block totals are Alyssa Cortez (64), Jasmine Rivera (50), Brooke Callahan (45) and Reddick (44).

Five current Griffins have signed with four-year universities. Reddick, Vanessa Phyakeo and Jasmine Rivera will all play for Sonoma State, while Franks and Simmons have signed with the University of Great Falls.

For Grossmont, the strength of the program is a great source of pride.
“Jamie Ivers has elevated our program to where we will be consistently successful,” said Athletic Director Jim Spillers.

“It has been through hard work that Jamie has built up this program, and the young ladies on this team reflect her work ethic with their effort every day,” said Spillers.

“Being in the 2nd straight Final Four means a great deal to this program,”
said Ivers

“These young ladies have been working so hard since the first day we stepped foot in the gym, being able to watch them achieve this amount of success and making it to the state championships has been so rewarding as a coach.”

Heading into a loaded field at the Final Four, Ivers anticipates hotly-contested matches.
“You have three undefeated programs and one program who has only lost twice coming together to battle,” said Ivers.

“Three out of the four teams were here last year, I think it will really come down to which programs can show their maturity and recover and manage their mistakes the fastest. We have as good of a shot as any to win this state championship.”

Grossmont will face a tough test immediately when they face tournament host and defending state champion Cabrillo College at 2:00 Saturday in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament

Seven Griffins secure scholarships

The Griffins completed one of the most successful Women's Volleyball seasons in school history in 2013, advancing to the state championship game.

Head Coach Jamie Ivers, who guided the Griffins to a 30-5 record in '13 announced today that seven of those Grossmont players have signed national letters of intent to play for universities in the fall.

Megan Kurz- Eastern Washington University

Lauren Hays- Vanguard University

Simone Henderson- University of New Mexico

Rudy Leasau- Chadron State University

Brenna Bailey- Arizona Christian University

Kelsey Rhoden- Briar Cliff University

Allison Pierce- Friends University

DECEMBER 8, 2013

CABRILLO MAKES HISTORY-FIRST NORTH TEAM
TO CAPTURE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL STATE TITLE

MATCH 6: N1 Cabrillo d. S2 Grossmont, 3-1 (28-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19)
Cabrillo wins 2013 CCCAA state title, Grossmont finishes 2^nd place
Records: Cabrillo (31-0), Grossmont (30-5)

Robert Lewis
CCCAA Sports Information

Cabrillo College did what no Northern California team had done before it as the Seahawks completed a perfect season at 31-0 and captured the North's first CCCAA women's volleyball state title in the 37-year history of the tournament Sunday with a four-set finals victory over Grossmont.

Cabrillo also achieved the first undefeated season by a North team and made it three straight years that a champion team went undefeated (LA Pierce went undefeated in 2011 and 2012).

"I didn't want to think about how big a day this might be, just focus on beating Grossmont," said Cabrillo coach Gabby Houston-Neville. "But when that final point was scored, I thought oh my god, we just won the state title. And we just made a part of history by being that first North team.

Houston-Neville reminded her players about believing in winning by making her squad watch frequent showings of the Herb Brooks speech made by actor Kurt Russell in the movie "Miracle," a film on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's upset win over the Soviet Union on its way to winning the gold medal.

"I kept showing them the speech before practices, and I wanted them to know it was their time. I'm sick and tired of hearing how good the South is," she joked. "I knew this team was something special going into the season. The players were committed to this goal from day 1. It's an exciting time for us and I hope for the whole North region."

In the championship final, tourney MVP Kelsey Shaver led Cabrillo with 14 kills and 13 digs. Bria Morgan added 12 kills and Madison Borch continued her impressive play at the net with 10 kills and six blocks. Another player who had a big match was Kaitlyn Connolly, who made a match-high 19 digs and several acrobatic plays to save balls off of blocks and tips only a night after being replaced at libero in the fifth game of Saturday's winner's bracket final victory over Irvine Valley.

Connolly talked about the motivation video.

"She played it for us every single day between the end of regionals until the state tournament," she said. "I found it motivating. We were quoting lines from the movie as we were warming up. It helped bring us all together to be focused on winning. Instead of the Soviet Union, we had to beat Southern California. I think we wanted this more than the other teams here. The level of the teams were pretty even in talent and we faced a tall Irvine team, but we played with heart and determination. We wanted to do this for Nor Cal, and we did."

Grossmont (30-5) ran out of gas after playing its third match of the day and 10 sets of action. The Griffins are state-runner up after a 21-year absence from the state tournament. Grossmont had eliminated both American River and Irvine Valley earlier on Sunday.

"It's insane to play three matches in one day," said Grossmont coach Jamie Ivers. "I had my B squad out there for most of the third and fourth sets because we just didn't have the legs. That first set hurt, I felt that we served it in for the ace, but it got overruled. I think we could have relied a bit on adrenaline. Once we lost that first set, it was tough. I'm so proud of all my players. The effort put out by them was incredible."

Ivers was referring to set 1 when Grossmont took a 26-25 lead and thought it had set point on a serve by Rudy Leasau. The back line official was overruled by the tower official who felt the ball went long and did not hit the backline. Cabrillo went on to win the set, 28-26, after a kill by Borch and a Griffins' attack error.

Grossmont battled back to win set 3 before Cabrillo went on an 11-5 run to take a commanding 20-14 lead in the final set. The Cabrillo fans in attendance swarmed the floor and celebrated with the players and coaches following match point, a combined block by Borch and Alex Flores.

"I didn't know much about about the state tournament prior to coming (to Cabrillo)," said Shaver, who finished with a tourney-high 62 kills in the Seahawks' three victories. "Once we got here, I felt the adrenaline flowing, and it motivated me to play my best."

Borch talked about the importance of winning the Irvine Valley match, the night before.

"We totally expected to face Irvine Valley in the final, and I think that when we beat them, it was like a championship match because we were both undefeated teams," Borch said. "It changed how things went too for today. I felt Irvine was a better team than Grossmont, so I think our confidence was higher when we found out that we were facing them instead. Winning the state title, I feels so surreal."

For the Griffins, Rudy Leasau scored eight kills while Simone Henderson tallied six kills and six blocks. Vanessa Phyakeo added five kills, 11 digs and three blocks and Gillian Newman chipped in six kills and four blocks. Grossmont's All-Tourney selections included Henderson, Leasau, Megan Kurz and Lauren Hays. For Cabrillo, after Shaver, Connolly, Morgan, Flores, and Borch were honored on the 12-women team.

Cabrillo lost more sets at the state tourney, four, than it did in the entire first 28 matches of regular season and regional playoff play.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

MATCH 5: S2 Grossmont d. S1 Irvine Valley, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21)
Irvine Valley (24-2) finishes in 3^rd place at State
Grossmont (30-4) will play Cabrillo at 3:30 p.m. in championship final match

Robert Lewis
CCCAA Sports Information

The juggernaut known as the Grossmont College Griffins continued its miracle trip through the loser's bracket Sunday, winning its second match of the day in a shocking sweep over State No 2-ranked Irvine Valley.

Grossmont (30-4) steam-rolled the Lasers with an all-around display of athleticism from Rudy Leasau, Simone Henderson, and setter Lauren Hays to support the power hitting of Megan Kurz. Kurz, who had 15 kills in Grossmont's sweep of American River in the morning match, pounded 16 kills v. Irvine and added a team-high 14 digs.

Hays, a 5-11 sophomore, dished out 28 assists, made seven digs, two blocks and gave Irvine fits with her quick decision-making plays at the net that included five kills. Brenna Bailey added to Grossmont's balanced attack with five kills in just nine attempts while Gillian Newman aided the net alliance with four blocks plus three kills.

In set 1, Hays dump kill was set point as Grossmont jumped ahead 1-0. In set 2, the Griffins capped a long run on another Hayes kill that made it 20-9. Despite fending off four set points, Irvine Valley succumbed on one of their 10 serving errors to up the lead to 2-0. Grossmont closed out the match in a surprising hour and 17 minutes as the Griffins again jumped well ahead, 17-8. Fittingly, Hayes dropped in another kill for match point.

"We knew we had to get fast to the pins and we did a good of eye checking their middles," said Grossmont coach Jamie Ivers. "We knew we could get them out of their system quick and beat their bigger blocks. We have two phenomenal athletes in Leasau and Henderson. They can jump out of the gym at times. But we had all of our hitters on fire out there. I felt we might have an advantage over Irvine because we played early season tournaments that required us to play two matches in a day. That has helped us today."

Irvine Valley (24-2) finished in third place at the state tourney after an undefeated run in the regular season and South regionals. The Lasers were led by Annie Mitchem with eight kills and Hailey Jones who tallied 23 assists and three aces. Haley Whyte added five kills and two blocks.

"Cabrillo and Grossmont did a better job of serving and passing and that's really what the game is about" said Lasers coach Tom Pestolesi. "Grossmont took us out of our system right away and we never recovered. I look back at a season where it was an enjoyable journey. We won what is the toughest conference in the state and it's a feat to get this far. We've made it to state now six times and those years we've been just a little better than others."

Grossmont insures that will finish at least as the state runner-up and is trying to win its first state title since 1989 (Griffins also won in 1987). Grossmont said a school record with 30 victories this year.

They will try to unseat undefeated Cabrillo in the championship final at 3:30 p.m. However, the Griffins would have to also win that match plus a 1-set, winner-take-all following that match to reach what would be a miracle state title for them.

DECEMBER 8, 2013

MATCH 4: S2 Grossmont d. American River, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-21)
American River (26-5) finishes in 4^th place at State
Grossmont (29-4) plays Irvine Valley at 1 p.m.

Robert Lewis
CCCAA Sports Information

Grossmont College knew it might be a long Sunday for it to stay around after being sent to the loser's bracket Saturday in a loss to Cabrillo at the CCCAA Women's Volleyball Championships. So Griffins head coach Jamie Ivers figured her team might as well get an early start.

The Griffins, who normally held practices in early mornings during the regular season, arrived 2-1/2 hours prior to the start of this elimination match at the Foothill College Gym. Grossmont (29-4) warmed up early and then showed why they were a team that really did spend six weeks atop the state rankings by sweeping American River in a match that took just 66 minutes.

"I had never seen us play so poorly than our first match v. Cabrillo," Ivers said. "We couldn't serve, pass, and I don't know if we were better off just hitting it underhand over the net. It was that bad. The team that played v. American River is the one that we've played like most of the year. Our strengths are serving and blocking. We were able to get the ball to Megan Kurz and she hit the ball well.

"We prepared ourselves early in the year by playing in tournaments because we knew we could get to the state tournament. Some of us complain about the double-elimination, but when you are in that situation, it's not so bad. We are happy to still be playing."

Kurz, a 6-foot-1 sophomore outside hitter, pounded 15 kills (.414) in 29 attempts, including six in the opening game when Grossmont hit .542 as a team. All-American middle hitter Simone Henderson added 10 kills (just 17 attempts) and served four of the Griffins' nine aces. Brooke Wheeler added three aces. Rudy Leasau contributed six kills and 10 digs while setter Lauren Hays dished out 33 assists with four dump kills and a solo block.

Now Pacific Coast Athletic Conference co-champion Grossmont faces Irvine Valley in an elimination match at 1 p.m. today.

American River (26-5) led 20-19 in the third set before the Griffins finished things with a 6-2 run capped by a kill by Henderson.

The Beavers struggled with 21 attack errors, five service errors and three block errors as mistakes plagued them in their two matches at the tourney.

ARC coach Ashlie Hain said, "I don't know if was nerves, but we made so many unforced errors throughout the two matches. It seemed like when we would get on track, the mistakes would happen and it put us back."

On the season, Hain said, "I felt like our being here was a surprise. The other three teams goals I'm sure were to make it to the state championships. That was not an initial goal for us, and not even on our radar. We just wanted to do well and maybe win the conference. About halfway through the season, we realized we could be the North 2 seed and so we went after it. It really helped us to have home advantage in the regionals. We had a great run."

American River won its first-ever Big 8 Conference title and its fourth place finish here marked the first time the Beavers participated in the state tournament since 1995.

All-State sophomore middle hitter Nicole Hareland scored 12 kills (hit .391) in her final community college match and she added two blocks. Sophomore setter Jessica Condit added four kills, 22 assists, two aces and six digs. Lauren Kirshke, an All-NorCal Region selection, made five kills.

2013 State Championship Information

Griffins are in the Final Four

(12/3/2013) With an emotional and dramatic victory on Tuesday night, the Griffins are headed to the California Community College Athletic Association Finals for the first time since 1989.

The #2-seeded Griffins fought off #3 Golden West in five sets (17-25, 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 15-12).

"A complete team win where every single player gave a thousand percent," said Grossmont coach Jamie Ivers.

The early going in the match was very tenuous for a Grossmont squad that breezed through most of the season compiling a 27-3 record heading into Tuesday's match.

On their home floor, the Griffins had been undefeated, and only dropped a total of 3 sets in 14 matches in 2013.

The Rustlers launched out of the gates to a 25-17 first set win that seemed to rattle Grossmont's confidence after being so dominant this season.

The second set began with Golden West racing out to another strong lead, and the Griffins struggling to keep it close.

That all swung after Simone Henderson stepped to the service line with the Griffins trailing. Henderson rattled off a series of strong serves that let the Griffins finally take a lead at 17-16.

Henderson, an All-American and All-State selection, finished with 19 kills, 5 aces, 4 blocks.

That was the turning point of the match. The tense expressions of the Grossmont players immediately changed and the Griffins had their swagger back. The players began smiling, and enjoying the match, and though they would still drop another set, that momentum was Grossmont's the remainder of the night.

Grossmont won set two 25-21, and set three 25-19.

Leading 2-1, Grossmont was on the verge of closing out the match in set 4 ahead 24-22 on a Rudy Leasau block. Amazingly, Golden West went on an improbable 4-0 run to win the set 26-24, and force a decisive fifth set.

Ivers talked about what happened to end the fourth set and get the Griffins back on track in the winner-take-all fifth.

"We went flat at the end of set 4. At the break between games, we just reminded them about maintaining composure. We prepare for 5-game matches weekly in practices so they were comfortable and confident on what it would take to win."

Grossmont stayed in control of set five, winning 15-12.

Megan Kurz was a force as usual with 14 kills and 14 digs, while Captain Lauren Hays dished out 43 assists, 18 digs and 4 blocks. Grossmont got a boost off the bench from freshman Middle Gillian Newman's 10 blocks.

It was only the second time all season the Griffins were pushed to a fifth set. Their only other five set match was a victory over fellow Round of 8 participant #4 Santa Barbara, on August 31.

The Griffins now advance to this weekend's State Final tournament at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills in the San Jose area.

Grossmont draw's the state's #1-ranked squad Cabrillo College in their opening match Saturday at 2:00 PM. Cabrillo is a perfect 25-0 on the season, and won their 7^th straight Coast league title. This is Cabrillo's third trip in four years to the Finals.

The State Finals use a double-elimination format over two days, Friday and Saturday December 7-8.

The festivities start on Friday when the four finalists come together for the opening banquet.

Grossmont Leaders (28-3): Simone Henderson 19 kills, 5 aces, 4 blocks; Megan Kurz 14 kills, 14 digs; Lauren Hays 43 assists, 18 digs, 4 blocks; Gillian Newman 10 blocks.

2013 ALL-PACIFIC COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM

Players of the Year
Simone Henderson, Grossmont
Bethany Nosko, San Diego Mesa

Coach of the Year - Kim Lester, San Diego Mesa

First Team
Lauren Hays, Grossmont
Simone Henderson, Grossmont
Megan Kurz, Grossmont
Karina Angulo, Imperial Valley
Rocky Crook, Palomar
Alina Fierro, San Diego Mesa
Imani Griffin, San Diego City College
Jaclyn Kreymborg, San Diego City College
Taylor Kushner, Mt. San Jacinto
Maci Lerno, Palomar
Bethany Nosko, San Diego Mesa
Mireya Ortiz, Cuyamaca
Alejandra Puga, Southwestern
Taylor Reaume, San Diego Mesa

Second Team
Rudy Leasau, Grossmont
Brenna Bailey, Grossmont
Gillian Newman, Grossmont
Krissie Adviento, Southwestern
Bre Bissell, San Diego Mesa
Mckena Gleed, San Diego City College
Miranda Hicks, San Diego Mesa
Kayla Kulunek, Cuyamaca
Kristi Mankhey, Palomar
Taylor Moran, San Diego Mesa
Alissya Theis, Mt. San Jacinto
Karlee Troeh, San Diego City College
Monica Vargas, Imperial Valley
Rylee Zimmerman, Palomar

Griffins one win from Final Four

#3 Golden West v #2 Grossmont, 12/3 6PM

No. 2 Grossmont d. No. 10 Canyons, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 26-24)-The Griffins, a team that spent six weeks as the state's No. 1-ranked team during the regular season, played well again this postseason in sweeping the Western State South champion Cougars. Grossmont stopped COC's 7-match win streak.

"I think what's making us so successful is the consistent contribution of everyone," said Griffins coach Jamie Ivers.

"Every match is a total team win where each player is bringing something to the table, which exciting for me as their coach." Grossmont hit an excellent .363 as a team, blocked well with 10 kill returns at the net, and served 9 team aces.

Grossmont Leaders: Megan Kurz 16 kills (.517), 15 digs; Simone Henderson 9 kills (.571), 5 blocks; Lauren Hays 38 assists, 11 digs, 3 aces; Courtney Shyk 5 blocks (3 solos); Mikaila Santos 10 digs.

Canyons Leaders: Serena LeDuff 13 kills; Jordan Carter 25 assists, 4 aces; Cassidy Fitzpatrick 10 digs. Round 3: Grossmont (27-3) hosts No. 3 Golden West (18-4), Dec .3 Canyons ends season at 21-4

No. 3 Golden West d. No. 6 El Camino, 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21)-The Rustlers weren't able to mount their offense as well as they usually do, but strong defense and dominating net play proved more than enough to sweep the South Coast Conference champion Warriors. El Camino coach LeValley Pattiso tried to explain her team's failure to give the Rustlers a better battle. "Maybe our inexperience showed and we did not know how to get it going," Pattison said.

"We just came out flat and could not make anything happen. It was a bad time to do it."#. In each of the three sets, GWC jumped out to giant leads, including 19-11 in set 1, 22-13 in set 2, and 20-12 in set 3. ECC's only true run was in the third set as they cut it to 21-20 before the Rustlers closed things out.

Golden West Leaders: Jordyn Sanchez 15 kills, 7 digs, 2 ace; Drucilla Gauta 9 kills, 3 blocks; Kelynn Mullally 14 digs; Tyler Davis 8 kills.

El Camino Leaders: Darlene Lee 7 kills; Kim Haney 5 blocks; . SueKalena Tafao 4 kills, Courtney Eppler 2 aces. #-quote courtesy of The Daily Breeze newspaper Round 3: Golden West (18-4) at No. 2 Grossmont (27-3), Dec. 3 El Camino ends season at 21-5

Griffins move to second round

#10 College of the Canyons v #2 Grossmont, 11/30 6PM

Griffins host Orange Coast to open playoffs

Kurz is PCAC Athlete of the Week