Loyola Rallies for Volleyball Victory

It remains to be seen whether L.A. Loyola will be able to defend its Southern Section Division I boys’ volleyball title if it falls behind as often as it did in its sweep of Fountain Valley on Wednesday in a semifinal match.

The Cubs trailed in every game but rallied, thanks to superior passing, tough serving and timely blocking, for a 25-21, 26-24, 25-21 victory at Huntington Beach Marina.

Loyola (21-2) will play second-seeded Westlake Village Westlake (25-1) in the championship final at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cypress College.

Westlake scored a 25-22, 18-25, 15-25, 25-23, 15-13 victory over unseeded Irvine Woodbridge (27-6) in the other semifinal Wednesday at Westlake Village Oaks Christian.

Matt Hillier led Loyola with 14 kills and three blocks and setter Jimmy Killian came up with some deft ball-handling.

After falling behind, 9-3, in the first game, the Cubs turned to their middle attack to spark the offense while on defense, Hillier, Killian and 6-foot-8 opposite C.J. Shellenberg turned in key blocks during a 13-5 run that gave them a 16-14 lead.

Jeff Sause ended the game with a jump-serve ace that knuckled and landed just inside the back line.

“That’s not a comfortable place to be, 9-3,” Killian said. “That’s not a fun place to be. The whole match we were playing catch-up. We didn’t have a dominant lead all match.”

But the Cubs did what was needed to pull out wins. They trailed, 14-11, and were tied, 24-24, before taking the second game. They didn’t take the lead for good in the third game until Hillier put the ball away to make it 22-21 -- part of a 4-0 run that closed out the match.

“They were strong mentally and tough enough to make those late rallies,” said Coach Todd Hanson, whose unseeded Fountain Valley team finished 24-6.

-- Paul McLeod

Orange Lutheran d. Oxnard, 21-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-22, 15-12 -- Brandon Bollweg had 16 kills, Scott Nickerson had 13 and Chris Frey had 12 to rally Empire League champion and unseeded Orange Lutheran (16-2) to an upset of second-seeded Oxnard (20-4) in a Southern Section Division III boys’ volleyball semifinal at Santa Ana Foothill.

Oxnard held a 19-16 advantage in the fourth game, but a string of service and hitting errors cost the Yellowjackets the lead, forcing a fifth game.

Orange Lutheran will play top-seeded Costa Mesa Estancia (27-6) for the division title at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cypress College.

The Eagles scored a 25-13, 25-16, 25-22 victory over fourth-seeded Camarillo (14-6) at Moorpark High.

-- Mike Haubrich and Ben Dimapindan

Swimming

Swimming, commonly considered an individual endeavor, was turned into a group exercise by the Palisades boys’ and Reseda Cleveland girls’ teams at the City Section championships.

The tactic worked wonders as depth and determination led the Dolphins to their third consecutive City boys’ championship and their 10th overall and the Cavaliers to their first girls’ title at the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium.

“The team win was the ultimate goal,” said David Nonberg, a Palisades junior who, like his team, did not win any events but did pick up third-place finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles.

Palisades finished with 277.50 points to outdistance San Pedro, which scored 218 points to finish second in the team standings for the second year in a row.

Granada Hills, sparked by victories in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley by senior Steven Park, finished third with 179 points.

While both Palisades and Cleveland relied on depth, the Cavaliers also benefited from 30 diving points provided by Kelly Gluckman, Avital Aboody and Esther Criss, who placed fourth, fifth and sixth in competition Friday.

“As a team we were pretty confident and that really helped,” said Cleveland senior Deborah Hefter, who won the 100 free (57.44) and finished second in the 100 backstroke (1:05.49). “It just makes us realize how strong we are as a team.”

Cleveland finished with 249 points while the Palisades girls, who had won three consecutive titles and 15 overall, were second with 230 points. El Camino Real finished third at 183.

Palisades stayed competitive throughout with the help of Cara Davidoff, who will swim at Tulane next season. The senior, who had won three City titles in the 50 free and two in the 100 free in previous years, scored victories in the 200 free (1:54.54) and the 100 butterfly (58.71) this time.

The only other girls’ double winner was El Camino Real junior Jessica Chen, in the 50 free (24.58) and 100 back (1:02.28). San Pedro’s Ivan Perhat, the defending champion in the 100 and 200 free, won both events in 46.81 and 1:42.38.

Venice junior Nicole O’Keeffe recorded a personal-best and school-record time by seconds in winning the 200 individual medley (2:14.26). She also placed second behind Davidoff in the butterfly (1:00.94).

-- Lauren Peterson