The Verdugo Hills Dons wrapped up their East Valley League slate on Friday and Monday nights with 3-0 sweeps at the North Hollywood Huskies and the Grant Lancers at home on Senior night. With those victories, the Dons cemented their spot at the top of the East Valley League, tied with the Poly Parrots, with whom they split 5-set home court victories. Senior outside hitter Ana Marie Vasquez entered the contest at North Hollywood needing 15 kills to break the school record for career kills. Vasquez has averaged 14 kills per contest, meaning she was essentially guaranteed to break the record in one of these last matchups. This set up a very special Senior Night for her on Monday evening against the visiting Lancers, where coach Will Reinhart had a celebration planned for his captain. Verdugo Hills alumni Crystal Perryman has held the record since 2005, when Vasquez was 4 months old.
In a setup straight out of a Hollywood script, Vasquez entered Senior Night needing 4 kills to break the record and Perryman was onsite to honor her record being broken. The Grant Lancers seemed determined to delay the celebration for as long as possible. Though the Dons jumped out to big leads of 10-5 and 15-9, the Lancers were ever present at the net as almost every set was to Vasquez. She had ticked off kills here and there, as the counter behind the Verdugo bench climbed from 786, to 789, to 790 and a tie with Perryman. The history making moment finally came with the Dons serving ahead 18-13 in the first set. Senior Ariza Nava’s serve was received by Grant with a strong bump that put the ball at the net in perfect position for Vasquez, who easily recorded the record-breaking kill.
The kill triggered Verdugo Hills Coach Will Reinhart to call a timeout and begin the celebration, and the Barn erupted with cheers. Perryman presented Vasquez with a gold volleyball with the words “ALL TIME CAREER KILLS” inscribed on it. Reinhart went on to say a few words about his senior. After the match he praised the growth of Vasquez through her four years in the program, citing how her leadership and confidence grew in conjunction with the skills she continued to develop. She is one of three players in the history of the Dons girl’s volleyball program to spend all four years at the Varsity level. Perryman reflected on her record being broken, “It’s bittersweet, but it’s really nice to have someone do that… hopefully it lasts for another 17 years.”
There was still a match to be played after Reinhart used his second time out as the first was expiring to wrap up the celebration. This triggered the ire of the Lancers head coach Art Yang, as he questioned the officials about the length of the time out. The Dons came out of the break on a 6-2 run to take the first set 25-15 with Vasquez fittingly getting a kill on the final point. The second set saw Verdugo use a variety of players, and they got the job done, jumping out to a 14-1 lead before finishing it off at 25-6. Senior Jelyza Crismon served for 10 straight points, including 2 aces.
Support and Subscribe to Valley Sports Telegram!
The third and final set began with Grant showing its fight, and both teams were neck and neck through the first few points with the Lancers holding a 4-3 lead. Then Vasquez came up to serve, and the Dons put a stranglehold on the match. She served for 13 consecutive points and 6 aces to push the lead to 16-4 before Grant recorded a side out. With Verdugo scoring to gain match point at 24-12, gamesmanship was afoot. Yang called a timeout and informed the official he wanted three consecutive timeouts. There was chatter throughout the Barn, some unsure of why play was halted while the officials were conferring. Ultimately, time was up, and play was to resume. The Dons made quick work of the final point after a quick set of volleys by both sides. It seemed like Vasquez would get the deciding kill, but it was blocked at the net straight to senior Nylah Beba, who popped the ball into an open corner near the net to seal the set win and sweep of the Lancers.
In the away matchup against the Huskies, the Dons had to find a way to adapt against North Hollywood’s aggressive defense at the net, primarily from Sarah Huntsman, Sharron Kozin, and Jolene Seng. The Huskies trio came up with big blocks in the first set, but the Dons had jumped out to a 5-point lead that they eventually turned into a 25-15 set victory. “We have tended to bully our opponents at the net with our considerable size advantage,” said Reinhart after the match. “North Hollywood is the one team that had the size to match up and give us problems. Fortunately (the players) did adapt.”
The second set was very similar to the first, but also saw Verdugo Hills go on a scoring run of 8 points with Vasquez serving, delivering 3 aces. The Dons took the set 25-13. The third set was more competitive as North Hollywood jumped out to an early 2-0 and 5-2 lead. Both teams struggled with passing with the Huskies extending their lead to 4 points at 15-11, right after Verdugo had tied the set at 9 apiece. This is when the cousins took over the set. With Ana Vasquez serving, Yahaira Vazquez notched kill after kill and the Dons were in the driver’s seat at 18-16. The set remained somewhat sloppy with both teams committing errors, but Verdugo held on 25-20 to complete the sweep. Ana’s 11 kills had opened the door for her to etch her name in the history books. Yahaira finished with a dominating 20 kills and sophom*ore Jaedyn Smith added 33 assists.
The Dons regular season ended on Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of the Carson Colts, who were visiting the Barn. Verdugo Hills will now await their playoff future, as the division seeding will be announced on Thursday, October 20. Their tie atop the league with the Poly Parrots as co-league champions might push the Dons into the Open Division, but they also could remain in Division 2 as the number 1 seed.
Check back in on Thursday evening when we will report the seedings and matchups for every school in the San Fernando Valley!
