CIF Los Angeles City Section boys volleyball has reached the midway point of its season, and the West Valley League is at the center of the competition.
Granada Hills Charter, Chatsworth and El Camino Real are all tied for first place with six matches left in league play.
“Whoever comes out on top of the league this year has done a great job,” Granada Hills coach Tom Harp said. “This is as tight a situation as I can remember. Every match changes the scenario of who has a chance to win this.”
Twelve of Granada Hills’ 14 players are seniors. Their experience has been valuable and also adds depth. The Highlanders are undersized in most matches, but their battle-tested scrappiness makes up for it.
Outside hitters Andrew Nguyen and Nate Yu embody those characteristics.
“Andrew is like 5-foot-7 and Nate is 5-foot-10 so those aren’t big, huge outside hitters,” Harp said. “But they play smart and very good defensively, too. It’s been an interesting year so far.”
Chatsworth is the reigning City Section Open Division champion and recently returned from the Las Vegas Easter Invitational, where it won six matches in two days.
The Chancellors are led by returning All-City Open Division players Justin Dickson, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, and Nate Kim, a 5-foot-11 setter.
Granada Hills is the only West Valley League team to beat the Chancellors, who have seen high-level competition this season in Mira Costa, Redondo, Royal, Newbury Park and Palisades.
Boys Volleyball: Granada Hills d. Chatsworth (3-2) 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-10 to move to (15-5) Overall & (2-1) in @WVLeague_ ; GH d. JV (2-0) 23-25, 22-25, 15-13 to move to (22-3) on the season & (2-1) in WVL; Next up we host ECR on Wed!
— Chatsworth VB (@ChatsworthVB) March 19, 2024
Wednesday evening will offer a competitive West Valley League match as Granada Hills goes up against El Camino Real, which is coming off a five-set loss to Chatsworth.
Six-foot outside hitter/setter Tyler Lee is the Royals’ only returning All-City player. The junior is part of a roster that has only five seniors this season.
Here’s a look at two other competitive leagues in the Daily News area:
Foothill League
Valencia is out front with an 8-1 league record, but the ties for second and third place in the Foothill League could make an intriguing battle for automatic CIF Southern Section playoff berths.
West Ranch and Saugus are 6-3 and tied for second place, while Golden Valley and Canyon sit in third place at 4-4 with three games left on the league schedule.
Valencia’s roster is mostly juniors and seniors and the team has skill at every position. Outside hitter Jet Ricks holds a .305 hitting percentage and averages 3.3 kills per set. Opposite Dane Ricks is within the top three players on the team in multiple categories, including kills per set (two), total blocks (23), digs per set (1.9) and serving aces (28).
West Ranch is led by junior outside hitter Noah Douphner’s 4.8 kills per set and .308 hitting percentage. He also serves well with 36 aces in 59 sets played and has a team-leading 2.3 digs per set to help out defensively. Douphner and libero Christopher Song were named to the Crescenta Valley First Serve Tournament all-tournament team after the Wildcats finished as runner-up in the event.
All tournament team: Noah Douphner and Christopher Song pic.twitter.com/TRefWBxQnw
— West Ranch Volleyball (@WR_BoysVB) February 20, 2024
Valencia and West Ranch will square off in a rematch on Tuesday, April 9. The Vikings won the first match in four sets on March 7.
Saugus beat the Wildcats on Thursday in five sets to move into a tie for second place after falling to Valencia in five sets. The Centurions finished fourth in league last season. Landon Cookston, an All-Foothill League second-team player, returns as a captain for his senior year at middle blocker.
Marmonte League
Newbury Park leads this group with a 6-1 league record. Westlake and Thousand Oaks follow at 6-2.
The Panthers lost their first five matches of the season but opened up Marmonte League play on a four-game win streak. Westlake handed them their first league loss in a five-set match on March 22.
Thousand Oaks took its share of lumps in a tough nonleague schedule that featured opponents like Division 1/Division 2 St. Francis and Royal in addition to fellow Division 3 teams Oak Park, Burroughs and Warren.
Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park will meet in a Marmonte League finale on April 17.
Related Articles
Daily News boys athlete of the week: Noah Jaquez, Valencia
Daily News girls athlete of the week: Paityn Lavin, Oaks Christian
Daily News baseball Top 10 (plus five more to watch), April 1
Louisville’s Miye Kodama is the Daily News girls soccer player of the year
Oaks Christian softball rallies to beat Westlake, extends league win streak to 35 games