CITY VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Chatsworth Avenges Loss, Reaches Volleyball Final

Five months ago, Chatsworth High senior hitter Steve Michalski was attacking a different kind of net with a different ball.

As an All-City sweeper for the Chatsworth soccer team, he was not allowed to touch the ball with his hands, much less try to bounce it off the forehead of an opponent with an overhand spike.

Michalski and his frontline mates had plenty of opportunities to handle the ball in a 15-8, 15-12, 11-15, 10-15, 16-14 victory over Palisades in the City Section 4-A semifinals Tuesday at Chatsworth.

Michalski, Mark Root, John Ross and Larry Fernandez combined for 57 kills, but it was barely enough to hold off a furious rally by Palisades, the defending City champion. After his team took a two-game lead, Chatsworth Coach Steve Berk nervously watched Palisades pound its way back into the match.

“I’m exhausted,” said Berk, dripping with perspiration after the 2-hour, 30-minute marathon. “It was a fantastic match. They came through and got momentum, then lost it. But they didn’t fold. Palisades was all we could handle.”

The win avenged a three-game loss to Palisades in last year’s final. Chatsworth (14-3) faces University in the final at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse on Friday. University defeated Westchester on Tuesday, 17-15, 13-15, 15-13, 15-8.

“Beating these guys means a lot to me,” Michalski said of Palisades. “It feels great to come back a year after losing to them in three straight, to beat them in the semifinal.”

After winning the third and fourth games, Palisades threatened to win the match, taking a 13-12 lead in the fifth game. Chatsworth, however, regained the lead, 14-13, when Palisades hitter David Suarez missed on a spike attempt that sailed out of bounds.

Palisades tied the game, 14-14, on a spike by Mark Hutman, but Fernandez recorded a kill for a one-point Chatsworth lead. The Chancellors won it moments later as Palisades’ Matt Unger saw his spike attempt miss wide.

“All I asked them before the fifth game was if they wanted to go to Pepperdine,” Berk said. “I guess they didn’t want the season to end like this.”

Root, a senior, finished with 24 kills to lead Chatsworth, which won the City championship in 1981 and 1984.

Erik Dumas and Terry Schrumps each had 13 kills as Granada Hills defeated Belmont, 15-7, 15-3, 15-7, 15-3, in a City 3-A semifinal Tuesday at Granada Hills. Scott Makada added 12 kills for Granada Hills (14-2).

In the other 3-A semifinal, Reseda was eliminated at Bell, 15-12, 15-4, 12-15, 16-14.

Granada Hills faces Bell in the City 3-A final on Friday night at Pepperdine.