University girls volleyball sweeps Kennedy in City Division I final

VAN NUYS — Kennedy’s girls volleyball team fell in straight sets to University, 25-16, 25-17, 25-23, in the CIF LA City Section Division I championship game Saturday night at Birmingham High.

University has won back-to-back Division I titles and has earned three LA City titles in four years. It beat Kennedy in the Division 2 final in 2022.

University was led by sophomore middle blocker Avi Raygoza, who finished with 17 kills and five blocks.

“University had a great game today,” Kennedy coach Julia Erickson said. “I thought our girls did a great job competing.”

University limited Kennedy’s star outside hitter, Aliyah Richards, who came into the game with 312 kills this season. Richards finished the game with seven kills and nine digs. University also forced her into four hitting errors.

The two setters for University, Sophia Newell and Sierra Harris, had strong outings. Both finished with nine assists. Outside hitter Yulyana Kmita had nine kills for University.

University jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first set. Kennedy was not able to claw back as the Wildcats won 25-16. Raygoza had seven of her kills in the first set.

The second set was similar, as University was able to force Kennedy into several errors with Raygoza being a consistent offensive presence. Raygoza also had seven kills in the second set.

“It feels really amazing to win the title and go back-to-back,” Raygoza said. “I believe I was able to play well because my team was molding together and the sets were just on point.”

Kennedy was leading 21-16 in the third set, but was not able to close it out. Kayla Carpenter had two aces in University’s final five points of the match, and also had the match-winning kill to make the final score of the set 25-23. Kmita also had two crucial late kills for University.

Middle blocker Ariana Lopez finished the match with seven kills and two blocks for Kennedy. Laila Teplin had 13 assists in the match for the Golden Cougars.

Kennedy (31-10), which set a school record for most wins in a season by the girls volleyball team, advances to the the CIF State Regional playoffs. The pairings will be released Sunday.

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