Less than a month remains in the high school boys volleyball regular season. Several teams in the L.A. Daily News area have tightened their grip on their league title races while a handful of championships remain wide open.
Chatsworth has big matchup with El Camino Real
Chatsworth is coming off another strong week and has put together its second five-match win streak of the season. The Chancellors notched a road sweep of Cleveland on March 24 before taking down Granada Hills Charter on Wednesday in four sets, 27-29, 25-23, 25-22, 25-14, in a West Valley League match. They are in first place with a 5-0 league record
Junior Grant Chang totaled 20 kills against Granada Hills while Noa Beauregard added 19 kills with four blocks. Joren Sakamoto registered 12 digs while Kevin Rabaja had 10.
Taj Unuakhalu, a 6-foot-8 middle blocker, is dealing with an injury that has prevented him from making major contributions.
Chancellors coach Sina Aghassy has continued to see progress from his squad.
“Our team has developed a lot of depth and that was on display this past match versus Granada Hills,” Aghassy said in a text message.
This week the Chancellors have an important league match against at home Wednesday against second-place El Camino Real and then hosts a tournament Friday and Saturday.
“This week is going to be a huge measuring stick,” Aghassy said by text message. “With ECR being second in league and us playing them first and then hosting 40-plus teams Friday and Saturday with a field that features Redondo, Burroughs, Venice, Palisades, El Camino Real, Long Beach Poly, La Salle and others, it will be great to see where we stand with the top teams in SoCal.”
The Royals are winners of four straight and will fight to end the Chancellors’ 12-match win streak in league play that dates back to last season.
Marmonte League race heats up
The Marmonte League title race became a little more interesting this past week after Oaks Christian took down previously unbeaten Westlake in five sets.
The Lions won the match 25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 16-14, and have now won two in a row after dropping their first three league matches of the season.
Westlake (8-6, 4-1) is tied with Thousand Oaks (9-8, 4-1) for first place while Newbury Park (4-15, 2-3) and Oaks Christian (7-14, 2-3) are tied for third place.
The Lions will look to extend their win streak this week with league matches with Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks. Westlake has the chance to rebound at home against Calabasas and Agoura.
West Ranch pulls ahead in standings in historic week
West Ranch (18-4, 7-0) kept up its pace in the Foothill League standings with straight-set wins over Golden Valley and Castaic. Noah Douphner led the way for the Wildcats with 17 kills Thursday against the Coyotes, putting the senior at 1,500 career kills for West Ranch.
“Noah Douphner is a generational player and person,” said Wildcats coach Brandon Johnson. “His drive to be great is undeniable and his ability to fight through adversity is to be admired. He continues to improve every year.”
The win also marked another milestone, as Johnson notched his 150th career win at the helm of the Wildcats program.
“I am very fortunate to continue the success that my predecessor Nate Sparks helped build at West Ranch,” Johnson said. “I have had many talented players and I am truly blessed to be able to work with such quality young men and fantastic families.”
Canyon (17-4, 6-1) continues to turn heads in the Foothill League and is coming off straight-set wins over Hart and Saugus. The Cowboys get one more shot at the Wildcats on Tuesday night at home in a match that will have Foothill League championship implications.
VAAS is 10-0 and looking to win City title
The Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences is 10-0 this season after sweeping Fulton and Sherman Oaks CES this past week. The Vipers have won 16 straight regular-season matches going back to last season.
Coach Gabriel Islas’ team is looking to win a City Section title after coming up short the past two seasons.
“Expectations and goals, it’s pretty simple for us,” Islas said. “We’ve lost in the finals two years in a row. We lost in the (City Section Division III) finals two years ago and in the (City Division II) finals last year. So coming into the season, we just want to finish the job. We’ve been so close.”
The Vipers have received standout play from libero Josh Lopez and setter Marco Farabolini.
VAAS can already clinch at least a share of the Valley League title, which would mark a three-peat for the Vipers, with a win over East Valley on Thursday.
The Vipers are looking forward to competing in Chatsworth’s tournament this weekend. They will start off in pool play and test themselves against El Camino Real, St. Genevieve and San Dimas.
“That’ll kind of show us where we stand,” Islas said. “There are some big boys at that tournament. That’s one of the reasons we joined it last season. Last year, we did pretty well in that tournament and this year we’re looking to do better. This year, we’re not catching anyone off guard. We have a pretty solid reputation, so we’ll see how we fare against some really good teams.”
Kennedy wins third straight five-set match
Kennedy won its sixth straight match this past week and took control of the Valley Mission League in dramatic fashion.
Kennedy reverse-swept Reseda 16-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-13 to win its third straight five-set match.
The Cougars (11-7, 7-0) handed Van Nuys (13-5, 6-1) its first league loss of the year earlier in the week by coming back from being down 2-1 after three sets to force a decisive fifth game and win it 15-13.
The previous week Kennedy had a five-set win over Panorama (13-6, 3-4).
Since that loss, Panorama has won five of its last six matches. The Pythons have a tough week ahead with contests against Reseda (Wednesday) and Van Nuys (Friday).