VALLEY AREA ROUNDUP : Pierce Ends Up in State of Shock

They’ll have to do without the defending champion at the junior college state volleyball championships later this month. Golden West College made sure of that Monday.

The Rustlers upset Pierce College, 12-15, 15-8, 15-12, 7-15, 15-10, in a Southern California Regional semifinal match at Pierce to prevent the Brahmas from making a run at a second consecutive state championship.

Pierce (15-4), the Western State Conference co-champion along with Long Beach City College, had a tough time stopping Golden West outside hitter Wes Schneider and made several crucial attack errors.

“We have not been solid all year,” Pierce Coach Ken Stanley said. “We have patched (holes) here and patched there. The kids have tried very hard but we haven’t been real consistent.”

After jumping to an 8-3 lead in the first game, the Brahmas fell behind, 11-10, before rallying to take the game.

But Golden West (11-6), which lost to Pierce twice earlier this season, went to work behind 6-foot-5 setter Steve Walker and Schneider to win the next two games. Pierce committed six attack errors in the second game and eight in the third.

“Their big setter did a nice job of dumping and keeping us off balance,” Stanley said.

Pierce rallied to take the fourth game and the teams traded points in the rally-scoring fifth game before a kill by Schneider tied it, 5-5. Two attack errors by Pierce gave the Rustlers a 7-5 edge and, after a kill by Brahma outside hitter Rick Phillips, Schneider and middle blocker Adam Hall put Golden West ahead, 9-6, with two powerful kills.

Golden West pulled further ahead, 13-7, on another attack error by Pierce, and Hall wrapped up the match with two excellent kills.

“I think the key was that our power guy (Schneider) got tired and lost his legs (in the fourth game),” Golden West Coach Jon Wallace said. “After that, he sucked it up and we got some good passing in the fifth game. Somehow he got his legs back.”

Outside hitter Rob Beard led Pierce with 36 kills and Phillips had 27.

The Brahmas were forced to qualify for the state championships through the regionals after losing to Long Beach City in a playoff match Wednesday to determine the WSC’s top-seeded team and automatic qualifier.

The state tournament will be held May 7-8 at West Valley College in Saratoga.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

Hoover 6, Arcadia 1--Nancy Evans had 26 strikeouts in 12 innings and Brenda Lyon went four for six to lead the Tornadoes (19-1-1, 5-1 in the Pacific League) at Arcadia.

It is the third 26-or-better strikeout performance in Evans’ career. Last season she had 27 strikeouts against Arcadia and 26 against Burbank, which are the fifth and sixth best totals in Southern Section history.

Arizona-bound Evans (19-1), who pitched a four-hitter and walked one, allowed an earned run in the third inning before Hoover tied it in the fifth.

In the 12th, Hoover exploded for five of its 12 hits and five runs, fueled by Lyon’s two-run double, which gave Hoover a 3-1 lead.

Shannon Feliz, Tracy Christiansen and Emily Carlson each had two hits.

Crescenta Valley 13, Muir 0--Freshman right-hander Danielle Ferreira pitched a one-hitter and struck out 12 in a Pacific League victory over the Mustangs at La Crescenta.

The game was called after six innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Ferreira (2-0) walked one and gave up a single in the third.

The Falcons (16-1, 6-0) collected six hits and scored eight runs in the first inning, sparked by Stephanie Kanzler’s two-run double. Tricia Beer went three for three with four runs batted in.

Sylmar 9, Canoga Park 0--Rochelle Espinoza tossed a two-hitter with seven strikeouts to pace the Spartans (16-4, 8-0) past Canoga Park (4-9, 3-5) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Sylmar.

Lupee Flores went two for four with two RBIs.

Thousand Oaks 9, Channel Islands 0--Shannon White drove in three runs to lead the Lancers (11-10, 4-7) to a Marmonte League victory at Channel Islands.

Carrie Russell (8-9) had a five-hitter with seven strikeouts.

Westlake 9, Royal 6--Jenny Edwards went three for five to lead Westlake (8-9, 4-7) past Royal (9-9-1, 4-6) in a Marmonte League game.

Westlake scored five runs in the fourth inning to break a 4-4 tie.

Danielle Osier doubled and tripled for Royal.

Poly 7, Grant 6--Adriana Nava stole home to score the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning and helped the Parrots (5-8, 3-5) beat Grant in an East Valley League game.

Poly scored six runs in the seventh inning on three hits, two walks and two errors.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Westlake 2, Agoura 1--The Warriors (6-12, 2-7) managed just three hits but scored in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie and beat the Chargers (1-8 in league) in a Marmonte League game.

Chris Flanagan and Scott Morris combined on a five-hitter.

Village Christian 7, Western Christian 1--The Crusaders (8-10, 5-4) scored six runs in the first inning--fueled by two-run singles by Dave Gustufson and Mike Agnor--and cruised to an Alpha League victory.

Senior right-hander Mike Rieger (1-2) tossed a three-hitter and picked up his first victory.

First Lutheran 10, Windward 5--Byron Brooks and Rick Larson each had three hits to pace a 13-hit attack and the Falcons (12-3) coasted to a nonleague victory despite committing five errors.

The Falcons, who scored in every inning but the seventh, raced to an 8-0 lead before Windward scored two runs in the fifth.

Crossroads 10, Harvard Westlake 4--The Roadrunners (13-7) overcame a 4-0 deficit to beat the error-plagued Wolverines (5-14) in a nonleague game.

Trailing, 4-3, in the sixth, Crossroads scored seven runs and ran away with the victory. Harvard committed four errors but outhit Crossroads, 8-7.

HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS

Burbank 12, San Marino 6--The Bulldogs (15-3) defeated the defending Division 3-A champion for the first time in five years in a nonleague match.