EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 4, 2018 Page 5
Girls Volleyball Sweeps
Hawthorne on Senior Day
By Gregg McMullin
The El Segundo High School girls volleyball
team needs to build some momentum as the
season winds down in hopes of reaching the
CIF-Southern Section playoffs. The Eagles
swept Hawthorne 25-9, 25-12, 25-11 to start
their drive to a postseason playoff berth. The
Eagles would need to continue their winning
ways against league-leading Culver City this
past Tuesday and Beverly Hills yesterday.
On the day the Eagles honored their seniors,
it was evident from the opening serve
that the home team players would wear their
guests down with great serving, setting and
hitting. Hawthorne would lead just twice in
the three-game match.
In the first game, Michelle Dell and
Katie Latta helped give their team a 13-3
lead with thundering hits for points. Adri
Hebert’s kill gave the Eagles an 18-5 lead.
Two aces by Haylee Brooks extended the
lead and Hebert’s block gave El Segundo a
22-5 lead. Hawthorne scored four straight to
make it respectable before the Eagles won
the game 25-9.
In the second game, Hawthorne served
to a 2-0 lead before El Segundo scored six
straight points. Lexi Tecun served an ace
to make it 10-5 and give her team the momentum.
Leading 14-8, the Eagles allowed
Hawthorne to climb back into the game
when the Cougars scored four consecutive
points to draw closer to 14-12. That spurt
by the Cougars only woke up the Eagles.
El Segundo’s offense went to work with
great digs, passing, serving and hitting. The
result was 11 consecutive points that ended
on another ace by Tecun.
In the third game, El Segundo’s drive to a
sweep was interrupted by Hawthorne’s resilience
to make the game close. The two teams
traded points and were tied at 8-8 before the
Eagles went on a 13-point surge to lead 22-8.
During the 11-point rally, Dell finished off
consecutive points to make it 11-8. Jamyson
Williams had two ace serves, including one
that put her team up 20-8. Leading 24-11, El
Segundo won the game and the match when
an errant serve into the net by the Cougars
gave the Eagles the winning point.
The Eagles faced third-ranked Culver City
on Tuesday and then Beverly Hills on the
road yesterday. They will wind up their Ocean
League schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at
3:15 p.m. when they host Santa Monica. That
match will certainly have playoff implications.
Eagles Fall to Hawthorne
The El Segundo football team had entered
the Ocean League schedule on a high.
After all, the Eagles were coming off wins
over Torrance 49-6 and South Torrance
42-0. So facing Hawthorne, a team they
have had relative ease in defeating in recent
years, should have been another win. But
apparently the Hawthorne Cougars didn’t
get the memo and used a balanced offense
to defeat the Eagles 41-28.
The loss was a stinging reminder that
on any given Friday night, the team that is
supposed to win can stumble. The Eagles
stumbled in a big way and gave away a game
they were pegged to win. The loss is also a
wakeup call that they’ll need to win three
of their final four Ocean League games to
guarantee a ninth consecutive playoff berth.
The game’s opening possession by Hawthorne
might have given El Segundo head
coach Steve Shevlin a glimpse of what was
to come. “We knew they had a good offense,
but were confident in our defense,”
said Coach Shevlin. The Cougars marched
80 yards using a mix of short-yardage running
plays and then went over the top with
some big gains passing, including a 23-yard
touchdown pass.
El Segundo answered with a 12-play, 77-
yard drive that consumed over six minutes.
Eagle quarterback Matt Romero guided his
team by rushing five times for 34 yards.
Romero completed a pass to Scott Melton,
one to Arman Sayson for a first down and
later to Sayson to finish the drive on a 2-yard
touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7.
El Segundo scored on its next possession
to take its only lead of the night. This time,
the Eagles’ long 72-yard drive started with
passes to Sayson and Nate Kehl and ended on
a quarterback keeper by Romero. Hawthorne
answered with a long drive of its own and
tied the game on a 15-yard pass play.
In a game that featured two high-octane
offenses, the defenses were exposed for their
weaknesses. Romero was in the process of
marching his teammates towards another
score. Dylan Phillips picked up 23 yards on
one play and then Romero targeted Melton
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Jamyson Williams digs a shot by Hawthorne’s Brittney Nelson.
Senior OH Adri Hebert delivers a kill against Hawthorne.
Wiseburn Board Honors
Anza Teacher Liza Downer
By Duane Plank
During last Thursday’s meeting, the
Wiseburn School Board recognized Anza
Elementary fifth grade teacher Liza Downer
for being one of the honorees at the 2017/18
County Teacher of the Year banquet. Wiseburn
Unified School District Superintendent Dr.
Blake Silvers attended the event held at the
Hilton Los Angeles in Universal City on Sept.
21. It was a “nice tribute to her and her hard
work,” Silvers said of Downer. “Recognizing
one of our best. She very much deserved the
accolades that she received.”
Anza Principal Alberto Paredes, who also
attended the ceremony, emailed, “Ms. Downer
is an outstanding teacher. She has demonstrated
superior skills and abilities in all phases of
teaching. She establishes and fosters clear
lines of communication with all students,
parents and staff. She is able to develop
personal developments with students. She
has created an environment that is safe and
conducive for learning. Ms. Downer provides
an optimistic view of what the students are
learning and what they can accomplish in
the future. She invites and honors student
expression. She advocates for her students
while ensuring that standards are guiding the
curriculum. She loves her students, and the
students clearly love her.”
At the beginning of the meeting, two members
of the public strode to the presentation
podium: one to laud the opening days and
environment at Dana Middle School, and the
second to request the names of the citizens
who are on Wiseburn Unified School District’s
bond oversight committee.
Board member and administration reports
then followed, which were somewhat truncated
because of the absence of member
Israel Mora and Deputy Superintendent
Dr. Chris Jones. Member Dr. Neil Goldman
spoke about attending back-to-school
nights and gave kudos to award-winning
Anza Elementary School teacher Elizabeth
Downer. Member Nelson Martinez mentioned
his back-to-school night attendance, noting
how he was excited about the future and
the energy in the District. He touted what
he termed “an exciting time” for Wiseburn.
Vice President/Clerk Roger Banuelos lauded
the Da Vinci schools for their recent parent
information meeting regarding the perils of
student vaping, and how the data shared was
so important as the vaping wave continues
to plague schools countrywide.
Board President JoAnne Kaneda commended
all involved for their participation in a lockdown
situation that occurred at Dana two weeks
ago, as well as the prescient dissemination of
information about the event to the concerned
community. “We learned some lessons how to
manage [similar situations], she said. “We are
working on improving our communications
to the parents and the community.”
Chief Business Official David Wilson spoke
about financial agenda items tabled at the
last meeting because the members wanted
clarification on certain contract amendment
points. Wilson was unable to attend the last
meeting. Director of Facilities Planning
Vince Madsen shared about the funding for
the upcoming demolition project that will
take place at the site of the old Dana Middle
School, as well as the need for the development
of a long-range master facilities plan.
Prior to the meeting, Silvers said that he
was very much looking forward to “getting
the master plan process going.” He said a
key goal for the District is to “get out in the
community and make sure that they know
what we are doing,” as well as encourage
community members to feel that they have
an “active voice in seeing how we are doing
things.” He spoke of the need for proactive
communication with all Wiseburn stakeholders,
quickly communicating, marketing,
selling and telling the Wiseburn story “so
that they don’t have to read about it in a
Board agenda post.” He added that the District
is working with multiple consultants to
help broaden and refine the communication
process and hoping to create a platform to
proactively answer the questions that the
community has in order to draft a strategic
communications plan. Silvers also noted
that District websites are being fine-tuned,
with the goal to leverage social media more
effectively than in the past.
Regarding the progress on the long-anticipated
pool facility on the Wiseburn High
acreage, Silvers said that the current timeline
is to “turn over the keys to the City [of El
Segundo] on Nov. 1.” Hopefully, he said,
the gymnasium will come online sometime
after the beginning of the new year, with the
completion of the soccer field still lagging.
See Wiseburn, page 13
See Eagles, page 15