Reseda Wins 3-A Title for Ill Teammate

He may be the best player in the City Section, as his coach says, but the Reseda High volleyball team found a way to win the 3-A Division volleyball championship Friday night without him.

All-City middle blocker Coley Kyman was at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Warner Center suffering from spinal meningitis, the Regents filled the void. Sophomore Scott Kent took care of Kyman’s hitting. Robert Kyman, Coley’s brother, and Mike Marzahl provided the emotional spark. And Pat Shinder controlled the floor.

The “Kyman by committee” worked, as Reseda defeated Bell, 17-15, 4-15, 15-13, 16-14, at UCLA’s Wooden Center, avenging last season’s semifinal loss to the Eagles and handing Bell (19-1) its first loss this season.

“We really wanted to win for him because he should have been here and he was the reason we got here,” Robert Kyman said.

Coley had a 104-degree temperature Sunday, but the fever broke Monday and he was able to play in the Regents’ semifinal victory over Franklin on Tuesday.

But Coley awoke Thursday with a headache painful enough to keep him out of school. That night, he was admitted to the hospital, where he will stay for three to 10 days, according to Reseda Coach Bob Berrenson.

“Coley is one of those kids that the whole school loves,” Berrenson said. “I call him the irrepressible kid. He’s a one-in-a-million kid.”

The Regents sent Coley a card with the message “We’ll take care of business. You do the same,” and dedicated the match to him.

Kyman’s mother called him at the hospital with updates after each game. After the third, she came to Reseda’s bench and told the team that Coley had said, “Win it for me.”

“I was trying to do the best to fill in for him,” Robert Kyman said. “I was just trying to do what he would have done.”

Reseda struggled with Bell for most of the nearly 2 1/2-hour match. In the first game, Reseda’s biggest lead was four points and Bell had a 15-14 lead but allowed the Regents to score two points to take a one-point lead and then the game.

Bell didn’t let Reseda come back in the second, taking leads of 6-0 and 14-3.

“I don’t know what happened,” Berrenson said. “I told the kids to let them win it. We would expend too much energy trying to come back.

“Let them win and we’ll regroup and come back and win it.”

Reseda did, although the third game was as difficult as the first. Reseda struggled with the Eagles and managed to lead, 7-6.

Reseda hung on to win the third game on Marzahl’s hitting and had a relatively easy time in the fourth game.

Marzahl and sophomore Scott Kent led Reseda (15-1) with 24 kills and five blocks each.