After Successful Appeal, Van Nuys Loses in Court

After winning consecutive volleyball titles in the City Section 3-A Division playoffs, Dave Bessler wanted a new challenge.

The Van Nuys High coach appealed to the City Section to place his team in the 4-A playoffs. And after an undefeated regular season, Bessler got his wish when the Wolves were seeded seventh in the 4-A.

Wednesday night, the Wolves found out the difference between the divisions as Chatsworth middle blocker Jennifer Hodges had 12 kills and 13 blocks to lead the host Chancellors to a 16-14, 15-10, 15-13 sweep in the 4-A quarterfinals.

Van Nuys stayed close to second-seeded Chatsworth with defense, including several near-impossible digs by senior setter Connie Chae, but the Wolves didn’t have enough firepower to combat Hodges and outside hitter Jennifer Joseph (14 kills).

“They had more weapons than we did,” Bessler said. “Our defense was very consistent, but we just didn’t have enough hitters.”

Hodges set the tone with six kills and 10 blocks at the beginning of the match. By the end of the first game, Van Nuys (14-1) resorted to quick sets and dinks to take away Hodges’ dominance in the middle.

“I tried fooling her but it wasn’t working,” Chae said. “Everything that came up, she seemed to be knocking down.”

The Wolves rallied to take a 14-12 lead late in the opening game, but Chatsworth (10-4) scored four consecutive points, including a rare block by outside hitter Kim Pickup on game point. Pickup played almost exclusively in the back row.

“Once we took that first game, we knew we were going to take it,” Hodges said. “Once we won the first game, we were fired up to show what we had.”

After numerous lead changes for most of the second game, Chatsworth scored five consecutive points at 10-10.

But the Wolves started the final game with five points in a row and fought off match point with the longest rally of the game. But Nicole Snell’s kill closed the match and avenged a preseason loss for the Chancellors.

“We knew Van Nuys would be tough,” Joseph said. “This didn’t seem like a second-round match. It seemed like a championship match.”