Griffin alumni take the spotlight in today’s sports news
Noah Roberts, who led the Los Al Boys VB team to a 22-9 record and the CIF Division I quarterfinals, was named to the camp roster for the US men’s Volleyball Under 21
Roberts, an outside hitter from Seal Beach, is one of 21 players invited to the training camp which runs September 9-17 in Anaheim, California. From the training team, 12 will be selected to compete at the 2022 U21 Men’s Pan American Cup in Havana, Cuba, September 18-26.
Roberts will play volleyball for USC next Spring. Last season he was named to the All-CIF Division I squad, and was the 2021 All-Sunset League MVP. The Griffins’ season ended with a 3-2 loss in the CIF Division I quarterfinals to Newport Harbor, the eventual CIF Division I Champion.
WATER POLO: Fattal scores two goals as US Women advance to FINA Gold medal match
Another Seal Beach resident, Rachel Fattal, was one of five players who scored two goals as the US Women’s National Water Polo Team downed Italy 14-6 to advance to the Gold Medal game at the FINA World Championships in Hungary.
The Americans, who have won three straight world championships, will face the winner of the Hungary-Netherlands game on Saturday morning 11 am Eastern Europe time, which is 2am here. The US defeated Netherlands in pool play.
VOLLEYBALL: Wong-Orantes, US Women down Belgium, move into first in Nations League; Face Serbia tonight.
Justine Wong-Orantes (Cypress, LAHS ’13) and the US Women’s National Volleyball team swept Belgium 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-19) in a Volleyball Nations League (VNL) match in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Wong-Orantes, a libero who also served as team captain, was credited with five digs and three successful receptions. Her defensive totals was low because Belgium, aware that Wong-Orantes was named the top defensive player at last year’s Olympic Games, focused its serves on other US players.
With Japan (8-1) losing its first match of the tournament to Netherlands on Wednesday, the U.S. Women (8-1) have moved into first place in the VNL by virtue of their points ratio. The team continues its third round of play in Canada with matches tonight against Serbia, then play Turkey (July 2) and Germany on July 4. All VNL matches are being shown in the United States on VolleyballWorld.tv, a subscription service.
The U.S. Women are ranked No. 1 in the world and are the three-time defending VNL champions as well as reigning Olympic gold medalists.
FOOTBALL/RECRUITING: Our Malachi Nelson blurb of the day
For our daily football fix, here’s a pretty cool tweet that shows Griffin QB (and USC commit) Malachi Nelson playing catch at the Elite 11 camp that features some of the top HS senior football players in the nation. That’s one way for the Trojans to solidify that non-binding verbal commitment until it’s formalized in November with the National Letter of Intent. I wonder what both of them think about the reports that the USC and UCLA athletic programs will seek to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big 10.
Five-star #USC QB commit Malachi Nelson playing some catch with #USC Heisman winner Matt Leinart at @Elite11 pic.twitter.com/czBS9n1jVy
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) June 30, 2022
