University sweeps Kennedy in CIF City Section Division 1 final

VAN NUYS — Kennedy girls volleyball fell in straight sets to University in the CIF LA City Section Division I Championship Game Saturday night at Birmingham. The University girls volleyball team has now won back-to-back Division 1 city titles and also three LA City titles in four years, as they also beat Kennedy in the Division 2 finals in 2022.

University won the sets 25-16, 25-17, and 25-23 with sophomore middle blocker Avi Raygoza leading the way. Raygoza finished the contest with 17 kills and five blocks.

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

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

The two setters for University Sophia Newell and Sierra Harris had strong outings, both finishing the game with nine assists. Outside hitter Yulyana Kmita had nine kills for University.

University jumped out to an early 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 still 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 has won the most girls volleyball games in school history this season and is now 31-10. They will now wait and see where they are drawn in the CIF State Regional playoffs Sunday.