40 combined kills from senior outside hitters Abby Karich, Kamryn Parsonage and opposite Kaeli Tulette gave Los Al a 3-1 win (25-14, over Palos Verdes in their official season-opener Tuesday evening in the Los Al gym.
Karich, the returning CIF Division II Player of the Year (and All-Orange County first team) led the parade with 17 kills, followed by Parsonage with 15 and Tulette with 8.
The Griffins also got good defensive play from returning all-CIF second teamer Jacinda Ramirez who had 12 digs, and solid play from junior setter Allie Livingston (39 assists) amd middle blocker Cambria Grant.
Highlights from the match can be viewed below or at the team’s Hudl or MaxPreps site. (Have to sit through a commercial but, hey, it’s free, right?)
The Griffins host Redondo Union on Thursday.
The schedule for the fourth Sunset League vs. Trinity League Volleyball Showcase was announced this week, with Los Al playing Santa Margarita on August 29 at Orange Lutheran. The event features four Sunset League girls volleyball teams playing against four Trinity League teams. Last year’s Sunset League vs. Trinity League matches were at Sunset League schools. This year they’re at the Trinity League schools.
The Los Al-Santa Margarita match time is 5pm, followed by Huntington Beach vs. Orange Lutheran at 7 p.m.  Over at Mater Dei, Newport Harbor plays the host Monarch at 5 p.m.; followed by Edison vs. JSerra at 7 p.m.
The Griffins are on the CIF’s just-released “watch” list.
FOOTBALL: Pre-Season hype yields to real thing starting Friday
The Griffins open the season this Friday down at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Rather than making the long ride back home after the game, the football team will spend the night down there. So is the cheer and song team and the ASB Board. Sounds like the coaches, school admins and chaperones may have their hands full.
The local papers are at the height of their pre-season football frenzy and the Griffins are getting a bundle of the hype. The Press-Telegram announced its preseason Dream team which includes two Griffin defenders — Outside Linebacker/Wide Receiver Gio De Leon and Defensive Tackler/Fullback Zatyvion Miller.  DeLeon and Miller were also on the OC Register’s OC Top 150 list at No. 38 and 100, respectively. Also on the list were quarterback Cade McConnell (#45) and running back & Corner Oscar Brown V (#83).
The Trinity League and the Catholic Schools held a media day a couple of weeks ago, which didn’t sit right with some South County public school football coaches who quickly organized a public school media day. And among the teams invited last Wednesday were Los Alamitos and league rival Corona Del Mar. LA Times (through its Daily Pilot subsidiary) was there for the story.
And the CIF has gone through some interesting re-arranging this year with the introduction of a hybrid Divison 1/2.  24 teams will be in the new hybrid.  At the conclusion of the regular season in early November, eight teams will be selected by a committee to play in a super-concentrated Division 1 that will essentially start in the quarterfinals. The teams will be seeded based on strength and not the section’s traditional bracket rules. The 16 teams that are not selected for Division 1 will be placed, regardless of their overall record, in Division 2 for the postseason.
The moves are designed with the hopes of decreasing the number of lopsided scores that often arise in the first round. Last season, the average margin of victory in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs spiked to almost 26 points, about 12 points higher than in 2017.
But what matters locally is that the Griffins will now be in Division III and will open the season with a pre-season ranking of No. 6. Sunset League favorite Corona Del Mar is No. 2. Why is Corona Del Mar the league favorite — because long-time Register prep observer Steve Freyer says so in his “Freyer on Football” column listing his favorites for league titles.
And here is Fryer and fellow Register columnist Dan Albano’s take on his week’s key games in the OC.
