CITY SECTION VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW : 4 Valley Teams to Settle Titles in 2 Divisions

Valley teams have a monopoly on the boys’ City Section volleyball championships that will be contested tonight at Pepperdine.

Monroe (17-0) will take on Verdugo Hills (16-0) at 5 in the 3-A Division, and Taft (15-1) will play defending 4-A titlist Chatsworth (14-2) at 7:30.

Chatsworth, the Northwest Valley Conference champion, will be making its seventh consecutive appearance in the final. The Chancellors defeated Taft in five games earlier this season in the teams’ only meeting. Monroe and Verdugo Hills split a pair of pool matches in the Venice tournament.

Although Chatsworth has been a dominant City team, its return to the final is a bit of a surprise. The Chancellors, under new Coach Steve West, had no returning starters this season. But since losing to Arcadia and Dos Pueblos before beginning their league schedule they have been on a roll.

Taft, meanwhile, has not beaten Chatsworth in five years.

“I guess we’ll find out if the Chatsworth mystique is about to end or continue on into the 1990s,” Taft Coach Doug Magorien said.

The teams appear evenly matched, with Chatsworth having a slight height advantage at the net. Taft middle blockers Matt Davis (6-foot-4) and Stuart Sandin (6-0) are solid hitters but will be up against the Chancellors’ powerful blocking duo of Craig Hewitt (6-6) and Gene Urcan (6-5).

Monroe, the Valley Pac-8 Conference champion, is enjoying its finest season since its boys’ team began play four seasons ago. The Vikings, coached by Linda Gayton, will have a clear height advantage against Verdugo Hills, which has no player taller than 5-10.

Verdugo Hills, coached by Dino Stirpe, must try to stop Monroe’s rotating front line of Brad Packer (6-4), Matt Johnson (6-1) and Jean Masequesmay (6-0).