WEST VALLEY LEAGUE : Valley Teams Ready to Give Up the Back Seat

It’s not surprising that Steve Berk feels his Chatsworth team can compete with Palisades and University. After all, Chatsworth has won two of the past seven City Section 4-A Division volleyball titles.

But when the well-respected coach suggested that other West Valley League teams could compete with Palisades or University, some people must have thought he had gone off the deep end.

“Our league is probably the strongest in the City right now,” Berk said. “That’s a heck of a statement, but right now, our league is stronger than the Western League.”

The proclamation may have unnerved other West Valley coaches who feared reprisals from the Western League, but none disagreed.

“They still have some really good teams, but I think on average, we are equal to them,” Granada Hills Coach Tom Harp said. “Palisades may still be best, but as an overall league, we’re equal with them.”

Taft Coach Doug Magorien agreed: “I would say it’s close. We’re getting close to parity with the Western League.”

And it’s not just West Valley coaches who feel that way.

“From what I understand, the West Valley League is much stronger,” University Coach Neal Newman said. “It used to be in order to win, they would have to beat Palisades and sometimes University. Now its different. Now we have to look at them as a threat.”

Forget volleyball, the City Section is playing Valley ball this season.

“The league is probably the most competitive it’s ever been,” Granada Hills’ Harp said.”It’s probably the most competitive league in the history of the San Fernando Valley.”

The West Valley League has improved steadily for a number of years, but this is the first season a team other than Chatsworth has a legitimate shot at beating Palisades, University or Westchester, the strongest Western League schools.

Local volleyball players are spending more time on the court. In the past, teen-agers from the West Side would play volleyball on the beach while their counterparts in the Valley were playing baseball. Now, most of the West Valley teams are involved in at least one off-season volleyball league and a preseason tournament.

“Since we’ve had a summer league,” said Kennedy Coach Mike Stanton, “that has really increased the level of play. The kids are playing good volleyball at least one night a week.”

And now that they play West Side teams in preseason tournaments, the local volleyball players aren’t intimidated when they meet them in the regular season.

“The kids think they can beat them,” Harp said. “The mystique has worn off.”

And the chance of winning the City title has improved.

“It’s not a lock anymore,” University’s Newman said. “No one has a superior team. It’s pretty well balanced; anyone can do it.”

The same can be said of the West Valley League race. Although Birmingham and Cleveland are too weak to contend, five other teams--Chatsworth, Taft, Granada Hills, Kennedy and El Camino Real--are strong enough to win the league title.

“The quality of boys’ volleyball has doubled in the last couple of years. I think just about every team in our league has gotten to be a quality program,” Harp said.

Until this year, Chatsworth was in a class by itself. The Chancellors have won the last seven league titles and tied for the two previous championships. Since 1980, Chatsworth is the only City team from the Valley to win a 4-A championship.

And while Chatsworth succeeded, the other league teams were getting sand kicked in their eyes. Like the wimp with the 25-inch chest who could never win the bikini-clad girl, Valley teams kept losing to the bullies from the beach.

So this year they banded together. They played in a local summer league at Pierce College and in a winter league at Birmingham High. They signed up for prestigious tournaments. “We’re working hard to catch up to the beach players,” said Taft’s Magorien.

So far, it’s working. Kennedy and Chatsworth beat University in preseason games this year. Granada Hills split two Dos Pueblos tournament games with Palisades. El Camino Real and Taft played in the Carson tournament championship game. Chatsworth and Taft both advanced past the round-robin stage of the Dos Pueblos tournament, one of the strongest preseason tournaments in Southern California.

“Volleyball is improving so rapidly, there are no easy victories,” said Berk, whose team had seven years of virtually to itself. “And I’m not sure the rest of the city is keeping up with the West Valley.

“It’s just unbelievable how well everybody is playing.”

OUTLOOK

Chatsworth: Despite improvement by the other league teams, the Chancellors are still the standard bearers.

“Chatsworth has a big edge psychologically because they’ve been on the top for so long,” said Kennedy’s Stanton.

Larry Fernandez, a 6-0 senior outside hitter, and John Ross are the top returnees from last year’s 4-A runner-up team. Ross, a 6-5 middle blocker, was a second-team All-City player. Said Berk: “His self-confidence is really high and his blocking and hitting are much improved.”

Mike Millett, a 6-2 junior middle blocker, has moved up from the junior varsity and cracked the starting rotation. “He’s playing extremely well,” Berk said. “He’s an extremely hard worker and very smart.”

Chatsworth (7-1, 3-0 in league play) has 18 varsity members and Berk shifts many of them in and out of the game. “This year, even more so than in the past, every one of these kids is smart and very intense. We have several outside hitters that are just playing outstanding and improving.”

Taft: Most local coaches give the Toreadors the best shot at knocking off Chatsworth because of Taft’s experience.

Juniors Dave Saranow, a 6-3 middle blocker, Scott Mehlman, a 6-1 outside hitter, and setter Gary Reznick return after starting last year. Add Jamal Thompson, a 6-3 junior middle blocker, and 6-2 outside hitters Dave Goldthwait and Jeff Polak, and Taft has one of the tallest lineups in the area.

But that’s not all Magorien likes about his team. “We’re well-balanced all the way around. We have good defense, good offense, and the thing that’s most dominating is a good attitude.”

Granada Hills: The Highlanders were 33-2 over the past two seasons, but that was while playing in the Mid Valley League and winning two consecutive City 3-A titles.

“I requested to move up to the 4-A and even though we’ve lost a couple of games, I don’t regret it,” Harp said. The Highlanders lost to Chatsworth, a team they wouldn’t have faced if they were still on a 3-A diet, earlier this year in five games. “The excitement was just phenomenal. It was definitely one of most exciting games I’ve ever coached at Granada.”

Granada Hills (3-2, 1-2) returns six players including both of its setters--Scott Nakaba and Han Seung.

The Highlanders also have 5-11 outside hitter Ben Itkin, Sam Goldman and Andy Farrow.

Kennedy: The Cougars have finished or tied for second in four of the last five years. Last year, they finished third behind Chatsworth and Taft.

But Stanton isn’t worried about his team sliding, and instead thinks Kennedy will do very well this year. “I know for a fact that we’re better than any team I’ve coached,” Stanton said. “This is the best hitting team I’ve had in six years.”

Brett Merritt, a 6-4 senior middle blocker leads the Cougars’ strong offense. Merritt, a first-team all-league player, had 23 kills in a win over El Camino Real and 22 kills in a victory over University earlier this season. Kennedy (3-2, 2-1) also has Nick Simone and Mike McDonald, a couple of 6-0 juniors who will provide some solid outside hitting.

Although the addition of Granada Hills makes Kennedy’s quest for a playoff spot more difficult, Stanton welcomes the Cougars’ traditional rivals. “We added more competition because they are a better team, but we also added to a natural rivalry that really puts a little fuel in the fire. It makes our kids play at a higher level because they want to win so bad,” he said.

El Camino Real: The Conquistadores have played well under first-year Coach Lori Chandler.

Chris Holbert, a 5-6 senior setter, runs the Conquistadores’ 5-1 offense. “He’s a great setter,” said Chandler, who has also coached El Camino Real’s girls team for 2 1/2 years. “He runs the whole team. He’s like my rock out there. He’s smart, he’s quick. I don’t know where we’d be without him.”

Holbert usually sets to Guy Zabka, a 5-10 outside hitter, and Derrick Brooks, a 6-1 middle blocker.

“Our biggest problem is we’re too inconsistent,” Chandler said. “But on any given day, I think we can be real competitive with Taft or Chatsworth.”