Crescenta Valley High School Falcon volleyball held its alumni match on May 25. Each year the alumni get together to play against the current year’s varsity team. Returning alumni stretched back to graduates from 1990 (Ryan Harvey), who was a member of the school’s first team and now coaches for San Gabriel Elite Volleyball Club, to 2017 when three graduates – Jonathan Lee, Brett Dunkin and Eugene Shin – returned to take on the current season’s varsity players.
Coach John Nelson, who coached Harvey when he attended CV High School, now coaches Harvey’s son Brendan, a Falcon sophomore who plays on the varsity team. This year it was a father-son showdown with Ryan vs. Brendan playing against each other.
“It was so cool to see how strong this volleyball program is 28 years later and how many great volleyball players Coach Nelson has produced,” said Ryan. “During the game, I thought I would show my son who was boss by crushing a few balls past him but he blocked me. I couldn’t believe he blocked me, but then again, I was the one to teach him how to block.”
There was also a contest of brother against brother when varsity player Garo Barsemian took on his brother Ray. Ray currently plays at Concordia in Irvine.
“It was a great experience playing with my past teammates and beating up on the younger players,” said Barsemian. “Playing against my brother was extremely fun. He has improved a lot and has a bright future ahead of him. I’m looking forward to playing with or against him in college.” The alumni won in five matches.

Contributed by Rebecca HARVEY