Net Worth at Stake in 3-A Final : Prep volleyball: Royal and Harvard have been atop the rankings all season, now they will play for the title.

Royal High or Harvard High.

Who’s No. 1?

That question will be answered today in the Southern Section 3-A Division volleyball championship at Cerritos College in Norwalk. The match begins at 5:30 p.m.

Royal and Harvard have been ranked either first or second in the 3-A poll the entire season.

Both teams cruised into the championship match--neither lost a game in four playoff matches.

Top-seeded Royal (19-1) defeated Moore League champion Long Beach Poly, 15-3, 17-15, 15-11, in the semifinals Wednesday and has outscored its opponents, 180-78, in postseason play.

Royal, the two-time defending 2-A champion, was elevated to 3-A this year. The Highlanders are 48-2 the past three seasons and have not lost a game in winning 34 consecutive league matches during that span (20-0 in Frontier League play in 1989 and ’90 and 14-0 in Marmonte League play this season).

Second-seeded Harvard (16-2) defeated Whitmont League champion La Serna in its semifinal match, 15-9, 15-2, 15-2, and has outscored its opponents, 180-76, in the playoffs.

San Fernando League champion Harvard, which advanced to the 3-A semifinals in 1988 and 1990 and lost in the title match in 1989, has won 67 league matches in a row in the past six seasons.

“(The championship) will be a good match,” Royal Coach Bob Ferguson said. “It’s 50-50. It’s a tossup on who will win. We knew from day number one that Harvard and Royal were the top contenders and it has turned out to be that way.

“We’ve been looking forward to playing them all season. Both teams match up well and are an experienced group.”

Royal’s attack is led by seniors Kevin Hambly, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker, and Mark Fiala, a 6-4 outside hitter.

Hambly, who has committed to play at Brigham Young, was selected to the All-Southern Section 3-A team as a junior. He had 22 kills against Long Beach Poly. Fiala, who is headed to UC Irvine, was successful on 14 of 17 kill attempts Wednesday.

Seniors Andres Carlo (6-5), Eric Wells (6-3), Adam Davirro (6-1) and Brian Baise (6-0) have played together at Harvard for the past four seasons. Carlo had 11 kills and seven stuff blocks against La Serna, Wells had 12 kills and Davirro had eight.

“All four started as sophomores in the title match, but I think they got caught up in being in the big show and lost their concentration,” Coach Mark Zalin said. “They have come a long way since then and I think that extra experience might be the difference.”

Royal’s loss came in the first match of the season against Santa Barbara, which advanced to the 4-A semifinals. Harvard lost to Palisades, the City Section 4-A champion, and Glendale.