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Salesian is enjoying the view from the top

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A plain, brown crucifix hangs on the wall at the Salesian High gymnasium, just the way it did before.

The volleyball team still gathers there on Sunday afternoons to sprint and dive and sweat through drills, the coach barking commands as usual.

Seven months after Salesian won an improbable championship, a bunch of inner-city Latino kids defeating a team from the beach, practice looks pretty much the same.

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But something very important has changed for the players at this small Catholic school in Boyle Heights.

Now college recruiters know about them, as do coaches around the country. People in the community have seen television and newspaper accounts of their victory -- The Times ran a front-page story -- and strangers approach the boys to offer congratulations.

There is even a movie in the works.

“You can Google my name,” said Ivan Godinez, a 17-year-old player. “I was like, wow, no way.”

Respect has been a long time coming for the Mustangs.

Start with their coach, Elliott Walker, a stocky, intense biology teacher who taught himself the sport by reading library books. For the better part of two decades, he has nurtured boys volleyball in East Los Angeles neighborhoods where people considered it a girls’ game.

His players -- diligent as converts -- felt out of place at tournaments populated by taller, mostly white opponents. They have dealt with snickers or indifference among their own classmates.

“No one knew how hard we worked,” setter Erwin Ramirez said.

Ramirez was one of the stars from last season’s team that marched through the Southern Section Division V playoffs, reaching the championship match against San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret’s.

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St. Margaret’s had Karch Kiraly, a legend in the sport, as coach and two of his sons on the roster.

On a warm spring day, Salesian broke open a tight match to win the title with defense and exact passing, an almost scientific approach that Walker designed for his shorter, quicker players.

It did not matter that the Mustangs subsequently lost in the semifinals of a statewide tournament -- they had proven themselves.

Their success should not have been surprising, given that Walker had built a winning program, his teams advancing a little further in the playoffs each season. But in the tight-knit world of volleyball, it took a win over a pedigreed opponent to push Salesian over the top.

This summer, Walker noticed a difference when he brought his off-season club team -- made up mainly of Salesian players -- to a tournament.

“Coaches who would not otherwise speak to us have come and said, ‘Congratulations,’ ” he said. “The teams that would not speak to us as far as socializing, now they come over.”

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As for the players, they have received interest from schools ranging from UC Santa Barbara to George Mason to Vassar.

“When we send coaches e-mails, they actually respond,” said Ivan Godinez’s brother, Steven.

Lest the players get big heads from all this, Walker has pushed them to work even harder. At a recent practice, he circled the court nonstop, noticing even the smallest errors.

“Don’t put your head down,” he admonished a frustrated hitter. “Just do it again.”

So far, the team appears to be responding.

“We want to show people it wasn’t a one-time thing,” Steven Godinez said. “We didn’t just get lucky.”

Walker has also continued to preach that volleyball can be a model for life. He has always demanded his players devote just as much effort to their schoolwork and, almost to a man, they have proceeded to college.

The championship has reinforced this message, Ivan Godinez saying it proves “you can start from the bottom and make your way to the top. It’s just going to take a lot of hard work. You can make your way up to be the manager, then the boss, then own the company.”

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In the last seven months, Salesian has received several donations with notes mentioning the title. Principal Sam Robles hopes that news coverage will attract more applications.

“When parents are looking at Catholic schools,” he said, “maybe we’re the first choice instead of the second or third.”

At the very least, more students have expressed interest in trying out for the team or serving as managers and scorekeepers when matches begin this spring.

All of which makes a big difference to players who felt ignored, players such as Cameron Phegley-Walker, an 18-year-old hitter and the coach’s adopted son.

“We’re enjoying it,” Walker said. “We’re finally getting recognized.”

At a recent school assembly, players stood before their fellow students. They were greeted not with snickers, but a loud cheer.

david.wharton@latimes.com

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