SOUTHERN SECTION VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : At the Beginning, It Was No Picnic for Village Christian

Four seasons ago, amid a setting that would best be described as nondescript, the boys’ volleyball program at Village Christian was launched.

“It was one step up from picnic volleyball,” Village Christian Coach Steve Levoe said of the match against Viewpoint. “In the first game, we had exactly one bump, set, spike combination. By the end of the match, we had five or six of them. It was not pretty volleyball.”

Surprisingly, evidence of that inauspicious start has not been destroyed.

As they prepare for their Southern Section Division III semifinal match against San Marino today, the Crusaders might want to pull out the videotape for one last laugh.

“We were playing jungle ball,” said Jason Wood, one of four seniors who have been along for the entire four-year ride. “Everybody kept getting hit in the face.”

Now, Crusader opponents fear getting knocked in the noggin.

A well-rounded team with height, power and experience, Village Christian (19-0) is in the semifinals for the first time.

“It’s fun to see what can be accomplished in a short time,” said Levoe, the Crusaders’ coach since the program’s first day. “It’s in large measure due to the fact that we’ve got a great group of guys together.”

Seniors Wood, David Ludwig, Chad Hanson and Sean Lazarnejad were there from the start, which wasn’t terribly rocky.

The Crusaders, who managed to defeat Viewpoint despite their sad opening-match performance, went on to win the Heritage League.

They became members of the more-competitive Alpha League in 1993 and have won the title every year.

The program has a sparkling 63-10 record.

“We’ve been pretty lucky,” Levoe said. “A lot of guys right from the beginning were interested in learning the game of volleyball. Rather than talking guys into the fact that volleyball is a good game, we had guys willing to make a commitment.”

Four of the six volleyball starters--Hanson, Kiko Banos, Kurt Sorenson and Mike Mitchell--also played basketball, which might seem strange since most basketball coaches don’t want players to know other sports exist.

Not so at Village Christian, where Levoe and basketball Coach Brian Gibson have no problem sharing players.

The only problem is the one felt by the opponent.

Third-seeded San Marino (18-1) is a familiar foe of the second-seeded Crusaders, who will play host to tonight’s match.

The teams saw plenty of each other in the Crescenta Valley summer league.

“We split with them at CV,” said San Marino Coach Scott Cameron, whose team features 6-foot-6 middle blocker Tony Skogen.

“My kids feel comfortable playing them and they feel comfortable playing our kids. It’s like you’re playing your brother.”

Indeed, San Marino will be playing a team that considers itself family.

“We eat lunch together, go to movies, go to the beach,” said Hanson, the team leader in kills from his outside hitter position.

The team practices together and learns together. But it is rarely caught looking ahead together.

“We’re confident, but we know we have to take care of business,” Hanson said.

“We’re not thinking of finals right now, we’re thinking of the semifinals. It’s a big game and we’re going to treat it that way.”