Gahr, Bellflower boys volleyball claim league championships

With just seven players on the varsity roster, only one of whom stands more than 6-feet tall, it might have been hard to imagine the Gahr boys volleyball team ending the season on top of the San Gabriel Valley League standings. After Tuesday’s home match against Paramount, though, it looks like that’s exactly what’s going to happen after the scrappy Gladiators swept past the Pirates 25-20, 25-17, 25-12.

“This is definitely an unexpected team,” said Gladiators coach Iris Najera. “On paper we’re short, there’s only seven players. But they have the seven biggest hearts. They love each other, and I’m loving every moment coaching them.”

The Gladiators overcame early losses this season as their small roster came together, and by the time SGVL play started, they had a tight rotation figured out with setter Niko Lopez distributing the ball to Zachary Ayala and Jared Veola.

Lopez finished Tuesday’s match with 31 assists and a team-high 15 digs.

The victory puts the Gladiators firmly in control of the SGVL with a league record of 6-1; Paramount now has three losses and Warren has two. Gahr has matches remaining against Dominguez and Downey, both of which it swept earlier this season.

“I just think our improvement is a testament to the work we did,” said Lopez. “Everyone on the team wanted to get better. We’re a small team but we really care about each other.”

The Gladiators led wire-to-wire as the entire roster , was dialed in for the high-stakes contest. Ayala and Veola each had 12 kills, with Veola hitting .600 with no hitting errors.

“We’ve come a long way this year,” he said. “It started in the offseason in October. Even we were skeptical about our chances, but as the season went on we got a lot of momentum and we kept getting better.”

The league title would be the second straight for the Gladiators. They shared the championship with Warren last year. This would be Gahr’s first non-shared SGVL championship since 2001.

— Mike Guardabascio

BELLFLOWER 3, CERRITOS 2 >> The Buccaneers clinched a fourth straight Suburban League championship, and now just have to beat La Mirada to claim a third consecutive undefeated league crown. Bellflower’s first meeting with Cerritos was dramatic, and Tuesday’s was no different, topping the Dons 23-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-19, 15-10.

Advertisement

“This is a team with four new starters and players in new positions,” said head coach Henry Chen, who has led the Buccaneers’ rise to power in the Suburban. “We’re still quite a ways to go in reaching our full potential, but this is a team with a lot of energy.”

The Buccaneers were led by Edgar Sanchez (18 kills) and Arick Mom (14 kills), while Miguel Sanchez had 49 assists.

Local volleyball fans who want to see which team would win in a combined SGVL/Suburban League should plan on visiting Bellflower High May 4 at 4:30 p.m., when the Buccaneers host Gahr in both teams’ final regular-season match.