Viewpoint girls’ volleyball team captures second consecutive Liberty League title

ADAM DAVIS/Acorn Newspapers LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN—The Lady Patriots broke into a wild celebration after clinching the Liberty League championship with a four-game victory over Providence at home Tuesday night. Wrapping up a second consecutive Liberty League girls’ volleyball championship against their adversaries from Providence was a perfect Senior Night sendoff for Viewpoint’s Marisa Fair and Becky Acosta.

Tuesday night at home, Fair and Acosta powered the Patriots to a four-game victory (25-17, 2520, 24-26, 25-20) over Providence (21-5, 8-2 in league), clinching the league title outright for Viewpoint.

“This is incredibly special,” Acosta said. “I’ve been playing with (Fair) for the last three years, and I love that girl and I love playing volleyball here, especially at Viewpoint. It’s been such a great experience for me; it’s taught me so much.

“And to win against Providence, our big league rival, it’s the most amazing feeling ever,” Acosta said.

Serving as co-captains, the Patriot seniors have helped lead Viewpoint to a 15-2 overall record this season, including a perfect 9-0 mark in league play, heading into Friday’s regular-season finale on the road vs. Buckley.

“(Winning) was the biggest deal to me because these girls are all really young except the two of us,” said Fair, who had nine kills in the game. “This was a big game for us.”

Viewpoint’s roster is comprised of a pair of freshmen, five sophomores and five upperclassmen.

Yet despite his team’s inexperience, head coach Frank Pontello has helped guide the Patriots to nine straight wins since Oct. 6. Viewpoint has lost only two of 28 games during the winning streak.

“I knew we had strong leadership—Fair and Acosta are both good leaders—but I didn’t really think the young girls would come around this quick,” Pontello said.

Sophomore Samantha Hyman, the team’s leader in kills, digs and aces, has played exceptional volleyball for the Patriots this year, said the coach.

Hyman had 12 kills during the win over Providence.

“We deserved to win after working so hard this whole season,” Hyman said. “It’s amazing.”

Ida Shahmoradi (six kills), Ashley Thierry (13 assists, five kills) and Samantha Borenstein (15 assists, two kills) all made significant contributions during Tuesday’s victory.

With the league title in hand, the Patriots, currently ranked No. 4 in the Div. IVA coaches poll, can now begin to plan for the CIF-Southern Section playoffs where, according to Pontello, they’re likely to land a No. 2 seed.

Last year, Viewpoint was bounced in the first round of the playoffs by Flintridge Preparatory.

“It’s like the old saying, you know, ‘Just take it one game at a time and see what happens,’” Pontello said. “Hopefully we’ll get a good draw. Last year we got a tough draw and ended up losing early. . . .

“I think we can make a run if we take it one game at a time and stay calm,” the coach said. “We have to keep the girls focused because they’re so young. But it probably won’t be too tough on them.”

The CIF will announce its playoff seeding Monday, said Pontello, with firstround games scheduled to begin Tuesday.

“We have a good chance to go far in CIF,” Acosta said. “There’s a lot of talent on this team. And once we pull together and get going, we’ll be unstoppable.”

For up-to-date information on playoffs times and game locations, visit www.cifss.org.