Granada Hills Advances in 4-A Volleyball

The Granada Hills High volleyball team marked the day that Mike DiSimone signed to play for San Diego State with a three-game victory over South Gate Tuesday in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs.

But the 15-12, 15-3, 15-8 victory over the 14th-seeded Rams was not as impressive as the third-seeded Highlanders--especially DiSimone--would have liked.

“To fall behind the 14th-place team, 12-8 (in the first game), that’s pretty bad,” said DiSimone, the lone returning starter from last season’s team. “I don’t know if we thought it wasn’t going to be hard, or if we were looking ahead, but if we play like that again I’m pretty sure we’ll be out of it pretty fast.”

Granada Hills (13-1) will play host to a quarterfinal match Thursday.

DiSimone, a 6-foot-5 senior outside hitter, led the Highlanders with 15 kills and also officially announced his signing with San Diego State.

The All-City selection said last week he favored San Diego State over UCLA, Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine because of its coastal location and its scholarship offer.

DiSimone had six kills during game two, sparking Granada Hills’ game-ending 14-0 run.

The Highlanders blew an 8-5 lead in game one and trailed 12-8, but Highlander middle blocker Earnest Yun had three kills during a 7-0 run to close out the comeback victory.

Yun finished with seven kills and three blocks and setter Victor Chang had 30 assists, overcoming a shaky start and finishing strongly.