SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone Volleyball Notebook, 9/21/22
When it comes to girls volleyball, no coach is more charismatic than La Canada's Laura Browder.
La Canada celebrates its 4-set win over visiting South Pasadena on Tuesday. (Escarcega)
When you meet La Canada girls volleyball Laura Browder for the first time, be prepared for anything.
A high-five.
A hug.
A smile.
That’s because when it comes to coaching, few have the personality that Browder possesses. She is the area volleyball’s version of Pete Carroll, Jimmy Johnson, and Dabo Sweeney, all rolled into one.
Don’t believe me, just watch her in action during a girls volleyball match. She doesn’t just coach the varsity team, she also coaches the JV team and the frosh team. And she’s not there just to sit and watch – she’s coaching!
Before a varsity match, Browder will make her way around the gym much like Pete Carroll does during a practice or a game. She’s constantly taking pictures with her former players, talking to parents, talking to her current players (giving them last-minute advice), and talking with her assistant coach Carina Pinotti, (who speaks just like Browder).
There is a warning though. She has an opinion about anything, and she is not shy about the way she expresses herself. “You know I would kill it if I went on First Take,” Browder said recently.
And if you don’t like the way she thinks or her coaching methods, or the way that she expresses herself before, during, and after matches, she doesn’t care one bit.
That is why many have called her ‘The Villian,” “The Bad Girl,” and more. Amongst the coaches in the area, she is a polarizing figure. Her freewheeling style has rubbed people the wrong way. It’s what happens when you step away from “the herd” and start carving out a life of your own.
And guess what.. she doesn’t care.
“Winners win,” was the answer she gave to the question of why her personality rubs some people the wrong way.
In a world where everyone carefully expresses their opinion because it can be used against them on social media, Browder comes off as a breath of fresh air. She is a throwback to the days when coaches had fun with their players/reporters and became characters for their personalities.
In the SGV, we have those types of coaches all over the place. In football, it’s the legendary Greg Gano (“you gotta have bullets, Jimmy,” Gano would always say). In basketball, it’s Glendora’s Gordon Hamlow and in baseball, it’s La Salle’s Andy Nieto (who can go on an epic rant for 5 minutes to answer ONE question).
Coaches like these become treasured items for reporters. They know that once you have them on the phone (or in person), be prepared to talk, laugh, and have a good time. That sums up quite nicely the life that Laura Browder leads these days.
She coaches the top-ranked team in the area (and if anyone tells you differently, they’re wrong). She’s coaching at a school that adores her. Her love for volleyball is only second to football (last Sunday she had three TVs on in her house watching three different games, who does that?)
And yet when you try to nail down why she has all this energy for more than four hours, she doesn’t even know. “I have no idea,” Browder said who is unabashed for her love of the Cowboys. “I watch ESPN in the morning and when Stephen A. Smith starts blasting the Cowboys, I love it! It gets me going for the day.”
On Tuesday, the many facets of Browder were on display in La Canada’s 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-22 win over visiting archrival South Pasadena. She was greeting the students that set up shop right behind her bench all dressed in black (the theme was “Blackout), she was high-fiving her boys volleyball players, she was mic’d up for a media conglomerate, and she got a push from Pinotti that would have made any football player proud.
But once the action got underway, it was time to get to business for Browder. She knew that South Pasadena would win one set in the match and that one would be the first set. Despite numerous serving errors and allowing the Tigers to go on a 4-0 run late in the first set, La Canada only lost 25-23. It didn’t take long for her girls to wash away the developments of the first set and focus on the second set.
“Before the game, we got a little pre-game speech and that helped a lot,” said La Canada star outside hitter Haley Clark. “And we're working on mental toughness throughout the year and it came into play tonight.”
Working on mental toughness?
“We’ve been working on the mental part of the game and not making a lot of mental mistakes,” said Nikki Hughes, who played one of the leading roles in the emotional win. “We work on that consistently so that we don’t make those mistakes consistently.”
Leave it to Browder to explain her team’s ability to put the first set out of the way. “I told them I was unbothered,” Browder said. “I told them that you lost the first set after six serving mistakes. Let’s go be who we are. So, the best word I can say is ‘unphased.’ Hey, I’m Phil Jackson 2.0”
That’s exactly how the Spartans played in the second set, on the strength of an outstanding serving performance from Clark (which includes several serving aces) that helped La Canada go from trailing 7-6 to leading 11-7. It would be the critical juncture of the set and set the tempo for the rest of the match.
Thanks to a much-improved serving performance from the team, the Spartans closed out the second set with a 25-16 win. The third set belonged to Clark (with a huge assist from Hughes) as she showed everyone why she is considered the best outside hitter in the area. Clark finished the night with a team-high 18 kills.
Not only did she accumulate a truckload of kills, but she also had several huge blocks on kill attempts from South Pasadena’s mega-talented Jenna Garner that helped La Canada win the third set 25-19. It should also be mentioned that Ashby Zubechevich, the transfer from nearby Flintridge Prep, had an impressive 17 kills.
In between sets, the student section was leading the chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP” for Hughes. And guess who was leading the cheers – that’s right, Laura Browder.
“We’re lucky, she plays on high-level club teams,” Browder said. “Pressure is her normal. She’s been in big moments before. She is a smart player and playing (volleyball) since she was little, and we get to benefit from that.”
South Pasadena wasn’t going to go down without a fight and in the fourth set, it was time for Garner and Helena Foord (the younger sister of Lola Foord) to elevate their game. The kills were getting more violent and South Pasadena coach Ivy Chew decided to make some defensive changes and rotations to slow down Clark and Hughes.
But that only allowed 6-foot 1 Vani Tatoulian to start making an impact at the net as she blocked several kill attempts that kept La Canada in the match (and yes Browder was leading the cheers of “She’s a freshman” from the student section).
It would be Tatoulian that blocked Foord’s last kill attempt that ended the match and unleashed a celebration complete with music that made it feel like you were at a dance club rather than a high school girls volleyball match.
In the aftermath of it all, Browder finally let her guard down a little bit and explained why she’s the most charismatic girls coach in the San Gabriel Valley. “I would do anything to get back on the court,” Browder said. "The greatest gift I can give my kids is to give them everything I can have.”
The Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson, wrote in his book “Turning This Thing Around,” (describing the turnaround of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s), “You create an environment where everybody feels good about themselves, everybody is upbeat and positive, everybody feels like a winner. It’s not only for them; it becomes second (nature) to you, and it becomes part of your personality.”
That best describes Laura Browder and La Canada High School girls volleyball right now. And she could care less if you think of her as “The Bad Girl” of the valley. She’ll just keep moving forward, achieving more success, and smiling all the way.
After all – winners win.
SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone Girls Volleyball Top-10
La Canada – The headlines do go out to Hailey Clark and Nikki Hughes in their win over South Pasadena on Tuesday. But the unsung hero of the game was junior setter, Tatum Purdy. Her smart decisions were the major keys to the victory.
South Pasadena – No shame in the loss to La Canada. They are the second-best team in the area currently and there is no debate if you are a serious volleyball fan. Jenna Garner and Helena Foord are the real deal. Markdown Oct. 5th on your calendar – that’s the date that South Pasadena and La Canada have a rematch at South Pasadena HS – and bring your earplugs.
Mayfield (10-1) – The Cubs had no trouble with Flintridge Prep on Tuesday. We’ll find out more about them this weekend as they are in the Crescenta Valley Tournament at South Pasadena HS.
Schurr (19-2) – The Spartans started Almont League play with straight-set wins over Bell Gardens and Keppel. It’ll be breaking news if anyone from the league takes a set from the Spartans. It’s vacation time for Sparty!
Bonita (14-1) – The Bearcats settled down after a first set loss and easily turned back Glendora to take control of the Palomares League championship race. Remember the name Stephanie Groswirt, she had 17 kills and 13 digs for the Bearcats in the win.
Glendora (18-4) – The Tartans couldn’t sustain the momentum after winning the first set in a road loss to Bonita. They’ll have to turn the page very fast as a sneaky good Ayala team will be the opponent on Thursday night
Pasadena Poly (11-2) – The Panthers had their four-game winning streak snapped against Torrance on Thursday at the Tartar Challenge. A rematch with Mayfield looms on Oct. 3rd.
South Hills (10-3-2) – Mia Delahoussaye should once again why she is one of the premier outside hitters in the east SGV as she had 27 kills in their huge win over Walnut. East SGV volleyball fans are finding out that Tiare Tuitama is one of the premier coaches in the area. Bar none!
Walnut (12-5) – Tough loss on Monday to South Hills, but the Mustangs responded nicely with a Wednesday night win over Los Altos.
Rowland (14-3) – Yet another team from the Hacienda League that makes the top 10. Two of the three losses are to outstanding teams (Highland, South Hills). Most importantly, they are ranked first in Division 6, which makes them a must-watch team in the playoffs.