Mayfield Trumps South Pasadena 3-1 in Non-Conference Opener

Hailey Eaves (#5) attempts a soft lob over South Pasadena’s Madison Saito (#3) and Amelia DeYoung. – Photo by Jacob Bigley

By Christian Romo

It wasn’t an ordinary non-conference opener for the Mayfield Cubs, but by the end they found a familiar result.

Facing former friends and foes from local club volleyball, the Cubs (1-0) defeated the South Pasadena Tigers (0-2) three sets to one (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16) Tuesday afternoon in South Pasadena. It was the second straight match the Tigers lost to a local non-conference opponent and similar to how Westridge won last Friday, Mayfield used their connections to craft a winning strategy.

“I knew they were excited,” said Mayfield Coach Stephen Bernabe about his players facing girls they played with growing up. “When the game was going, you could see that the girls were like, ‘okay, on this one we’re gonna go here.’ It was great because you got to see both sides battle it out.”

The Cubs comfortably handled the Tigers in the first and last sets, despite their lack of a go-to outside hitter. That inexperience showed in the third set when the Cubs lost an 8-5 lead to a Tigers team that was swept in their opening match. But instead of calling it a weakness, Bernabe sees the variety of players getting kills as an advantage to their team. “They’re very young … and as the team plays throughout the year, it’s going to be our strength, because now everyone’s going to be play-ready for that last kill.”

Madison Saito (#3) goes up for the spike. – Photo by Jacob Bigley

The Tigers improved this week, but winning a set against a tough opponent wasn’t much consolation to Tigers Coach Shari Iwatani. “They were difficult … [Mayfield] serves a very aggressive game,” she said, adding that the Tigers have only practiced together a couple of times so far this season. Tigers libero Madison Hirano (#13) was also disappointed by the loss, saying: “It’s not easy losing, especially like that to a team I know we could beat.”

The Cubs got a great performance from junior Oliva Smith (#1), who had a few key blocks and dominated the net with some big kills. Sophomore Ellie Watkins (#3) impressed with aggressive serves early in each set and the Cubs also benefitted from strong outside play from first-year Hailey Eaves (#5) and junior Annie Evans (#6). A clutch hitter hasn’t quite yet emerged, but considering how comfortably they handled the Tigers, the Cubs might not need one.

Oliva Smith (#1) goes up for the kill. – Photo by Jacob Bigley

Despite the loss, the Tigers are still optimistic about their season. Junior Madison Saito (#3) was once again a force on her kills, and senior Molly Feldmeth (#6) sparked a string of rallies in the second and third sets with her consistent serves and spikes. Unforced errors and communication problems, however, dogged the Tigers throughout the match. “We’re still a fresh, new team with new players,” Hirano said, “and once we connect the pieces we have a good shot at being successful in the future.” Iwatani also believes her team can improve: “We need to work with our setters to be able to run what I want to run. We’re not at 100 percent.”

The Cubs next head to Glendora to face St. Lucy’s, Sept. 1 at 5:45 p.m. The Tigers go on the road against Alhambra, Sept. 2 at 3:45 p.m.

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