MIDWEEK REPORT / HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UPDATE : Girls’ Teams on Course to Make Local History

Amatch today between Louisville and La Reina marks a first in the region for high school golf: a contest between all-girls’ teams.

The Southern Section does not offer girls’ golf as a separate sport. Girls who want to compete previously tried out with the boys.

But golfers from La Reina and Louisville, both all-girls’ schools, have been excluded until this season.

Golf enthusiasts at both schools got the process going with the help of parents and teachers who helped reserve course time, schedule matches and secure coaches. By the time the season started earlier this month, each school had seven players on its team.

“I was amazed by the amount of interest we had,” La Reina Athletic Director Don Hyatt said. “Many of the girls were not saying anything because they would have to play on the same level with the boys. Now they’re excited to see how they match up.”

The teams will compete regularly against boys’ squads--La Reina in the Tri-Valley League and Louisville in the Mission League. So far, Louisville is 0-2 and La Reina is 0-1 in match play.

“The main challenge for Louisville is to find enough girls who are good enough to compete on a level with the boys,” said Marcia Layman, a Louisville parent who helped organize the team. “Some coed schools have one or possibly two girls who make the team with the boys. For Louisville, that means having six or seven girls good enough.”

Even with the formation of two all-girls’ teams, Layman said, the sport still has a long way to go.

“[Golf] won’t become available to more than just a select few girls until the CIF implements a girls’ division,” she said.

A Long Fall Down

Talk about a fall from grace. On Saturday, Ryan Smiley of Harvard-Westlake, a junior guard, was in Sacramento with the school’s basketball team, celebrating the Wolverines’ first state basketball championship with a 62-49 victory over Sacramento Grant.

On Tuesday, Smiley was at shortstop and went without a hit in three at-bats as Harvard-Westlake (1-9) lost, 24-0, to Notre Dame in a Mission League game.

“It’s definitely a humbling experience,” Smiley said. “Losing is hard to take, at first. But our team will get better. There’s not a lot of pressure, knowing we’re not expected to win.”

Baseball Notes

City Section

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

Mid-Valley League--Canoga Park has been a couple of run-scoring singles away from upsetting the two best teams in the conference, Sylmar and Poly. The Hunters, behind impressive performances by Kevin Carlsen, a junior transfer from Crespi, owned 2-0 leads in both games but could not hold on and lost, 3-2, each time. Carlsen (0-3) threw a pair of three-hitters. . . . Monroe recently added Adam Kaplan to the bullpen. Kaplan also competes on the Viking track team.

East Valley League--Travis McGivern is batting .538 for Poly. . . . Five starters are batting .360 or better for Sylmar, but it is senior Chris Ruley who is turning heads. The 6-foot-1, 240-pound first baseman is batting .522 with four doubles and 12 RBIs in the Spartans’ first six games.

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

North Valley League--Derek Morse of Kennedy and Mike Schultz of Cleveland are the only conference pitchers with 4-0 records. Morse isn’t a surprise but Schultz, who has a 2.47 earned-run average, is one of the reasons the Cavaliers (6-2) are probably the conference’s most improved team. Schultz allowed two hits in six innings Monday in a 9-1 victory over Birmingham despite complaining of back pain. Cleveland should get even tougher if Jared Mills can come back from surgery for a collapsed lung. In Mills’ absence, senior Jason Bolding has been adequate as Cleveland’s second starter but both losses have come with Bolding pitching. . . . Through Monday’s games, the North Valley is 8-3 against West Valley League competition. . . .

Omar Pinto may only be a part-time player for Kennedy, starting at first base when John Garland pitches, but the brother of third baseman Aldo Pinto has made an impression. Omar Pinto has an on-base percentage of .643. . . . David Soto’s double in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Kennedy a 3-2 victory over El Camino Real on Monday. . . . Jessie Carranza pitched a complete game Monday with four strikeouts as Granada Hills defeated Chatsworth, 4-1.

West Valley League--Last season, El Camino Real’s Junior Avina was the starting second baseman for the Conquistadores and didn’t pitch at all. This year, Avina has established himself over Mike Conn as the Conquistadores’ second starter behind Shaun Fishman. In 16 1/3 innings, Avina has allowed only two earned runs. “He got a lot stronger since last season,” Coach Mike Maio said. . . . Despite having the roughest start of any league team, losing three of five Westside tournament games, Taft started 2-1 in conference play, good enough for first place heading into Wednesday’s game.

Southern Section

CHANNEL

Ventura is 5-3 and Coach Dan Smith said the Cougars’ pitching staff has mostly been “a hodgepodge” so far. The two set in their roles appear to be senior Corey Kniss and junior Marcial Marquez. Kniss is 2-0 with two saves and will be the team’s middle reliever. Marquez has a pair of saves and will be the closer. Senior starter Shawn Wenger is 2-0. Jason Watkins stole eight bases in his first eight attempts. While Smith is enthused over his team’s start, he’s also happy to see that the Ventura College battery often features his alumni. Pitchers Robert Verstraeten, Jeremy Pierce and Seth Casey and catcher Monty Moritz all graduated from Ventura High last year. . . .

Hueneme’s young team continues to struggle but Coach Reg Welker sees improvement. “We made five errors [Tuesday] but we played better than we have,” Welker said after the Vikings beat Oxnard for their first victory. “A lot of these guys should be learning the game down on JV. On the varsity there’s a lot more pressure and it’s getting to them a little bit.”. . . Rio Mesa Coach Richard Duran lauds shortstop Albert Ambriz and predicts the senior will play in college and possibly the pros. Ambriz earned all-league and All-Ventura County honors last season as a right fielder and has had little difficulty switching positions.

FOOTHILL

Burbank has struggled to a 3-4 start, losing, 10-2, last week to rival Burroughs. But it is not because the Bulldogs don’t get people on base. They stranded 11 runners against Burroughs and 12 against Carson. . . . Life goes on for Hart without two of its best hitters, Mike Bland and Brian Baron. The Indians (6-3, 2-0) have won three in a row and are in first place.

FRONTIER

Senior Tanner Trosper is the undisputed ace of the Calabasas pitching staff but junior Eric Eisner tossed a complete-game victory over Cleveland two weeks ago and has made a strong bid to be the No. 2 starter. Calabasas co-Coach Rick Nathanson said the Coyotes’ rebuilt infield has come together after the graduation of third baseman Brett Niles and second baseman Mike Melucci. Shortstop Josh Harris is a holdover, and Darin Reisman, last year’s first baseman, has moved to second. Frank Carlise has stepped in at first and Adam Davey has been particularly impressive at third while battling an arm injury that caused him to miss most of last season. . . .

Freshman third baseman Wes Rasmussen of Moorpark is expected to be sidelined for two to three more weeks while healing a broken hand. Rasmussen suffered the injury making a tag March 8 in a Duarte tournament game but has been contributing in other ways since. “We get him out at practice counting baseballs and shagging for us,” Coach Scott Fullerton said. “If he’s doing the rookie grunt work he can’t be a prima donna.” Moorpark’s freshman team, part of the Marmonte League freshman league, started the week with a 4-2 record. . . . Santa Paula is 5-0 with a lineup that features eight returning starters. Last season’s team earned the program’s first postseason victory since 1940 and advanced to the second round of the Southern Section Division IV playoffs. Senior Rocky Frutos hit his fourth home run Tuesday in a victory over Malibu.

GOLDEN

Mother Nature last week interrupted a bid by Quartz Hill to upset Royal, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times. The Rebels (4-2) held a 4-3 lead after three innings when umpires suspended the game because of rain. Most disappointed was Quartz Hill’s Bryan Garcia, who hit a grand slam in the first inning.

HIGH DESERT

Paraclete might have the league’s best middle infield of the future. Shortstop Corey Delaney, a freshman, is batting .500. Second baseman Justin Kolesar, a sophomore, is a quick leadoff batter who has struck out only once in 17 at-bats.

MARMONTE

Camarillo pitcher-outfielder Joe Borchard (6-4, 190), a junior who figures to be among the area’s top recruits next season, has wasted no time making an impact. Borchard is batting .444 with five doubles and 14 RBIs and is 2-0 in two starts. Borchard, who moved this season from right to center field, also made a pair of diving catches in the Scorpions’ 5-2 league-opening victory over Thousand Oaks and delivered a two-run triple. . . . Channel Islands finished second last week in the Mungus tournament in Cottonwood, Ariz., losing, 6-4, to the host school in the final. The Raiders (6-4), who have participated in the tournament the past three years, placed second last season. . . . Simi Valley’s Steve Jennings has two hits in four at-bats, both doubles. Assisting first-year Pioneer Coach Tom D’Errico is son Matthew D’Errico, a 1991 Simi Valley graduate and former Pioneer player.

MISSION

Rehabilitation has been slow and arduous for Bill Scott of Alemany. Scott, who batted .471 with six home runs and 34 RBIs and was selected league player of the year last season as a sophomore, has dropped 10 pounds since undergoing surgery in July to repair torn ligaments in his right shoulder. The 6-foot-1 Scott played last season at 190 pounds. “It’s tough,” said Scott, who is noticeably thinner. “I just started hitting after Christmas, and I started throwing about a month-and-a-half ago.” Scott, who is being used as a designated hitter, had a double and single in three at-bats Tuesday against Crespi. . . .

Jason Giovannettone of Chaminade appears unstoppable on the basepaths. Giovannettone, a senior outfielder and four-year varsity member, has 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Giovannettone was 28 of 29 last season. . . . Crespi senior Brian Luderer, an All-Southern Section shortstop last season, played catcher for two innings Tuesday against Alemany. Luderer (5-11, 165) said recruiters are interested in him as a catcher. . . . Harvard-Westlake is 1-9 and 0-3 in league play, including losses to Loyola, 20-2, and Notre Dame, 24-0. Quite a contrast to the school’s boys’ basketball team, which won the state Division III championship last week. “We get beat up on the baseball field,” Coach Norm Greenbaum said. “But we say, ‘Yeah, but how’s your basketball team?’ ”

PACIFIC

Glendale’s David Garley suffered a separated left shoulder trying to stretch a single into a double last week against Arcadia and is questionable for Friday’s game against Crescenta Valley. Any injury could be costly for Glendale, which has only 12 players on its roster. “Our depth is really being taxed,” Coach Spiro Psaltis said. “Those who can play two or three positions are going to be.” Senior left-hander Bryan Chan, who pitched a no-hitter last season against Pasadena, lost to Arcadia for the second year in a row after coming within one out of a victory. Arcadia tagged Chan for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to win, 3-2.

SANTA FE

Bell-Jeff is suffering from a lack of pitching. The Guards (0-5-1) allowed 92 runs in their first five games, an average of 18.4 a game, including a 37-7 five-inning loss to Maranatha in their first game. “We have zero boys who have ever pitched competitively in their lives,” said first-year Coach Doug MacKenzie, the former longtime Canoga Park coach. So far the highlight of the season has been Monday’s 11-11 tie with Western Christian in which four Bell-Jeff pitchers combined to allow a season-low nine walks. . . . Just when it appeared things couldn’t get any worse for the Guards, they discovered that designated hitter Mark Dodd, the team’s lone returning starter from last season, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on both knees. Dodd leads the team with a .353 batting average.

TRI-VALLEY

St. Bonaventure used four pitchers to pin a no-hitter on Santa Clara last week, but lost, 6-0. The Seraphs walked four batters, hit another and committed two errors in the first inning to stake Santa Clara to a 4-0 lead. St. Bonaventure issued seven walks in the game. “We played a great defensive game but they gave us a lot of help,” said Santa Clara player Nathan Kincaid. Santa Clara was one-hit by Calabasas in its next game. Postscript: The Saints broke out of their slump Tuesday, pounding 12 hits in a 19-2 victory over Nordhoff.

Softball Notes

City Section

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

East Valley League--After Van Nuys slugged 22 hits against Taft en route to a 16-8 victory last week, Wolves’ Coach Ken Cordero went looking in scorebooks dating back to 1988 and couldn’t find a feat close to that mark. . . . To say that Poly is off to a fast start is an understatement. The Parrots have 43 stolen bases in their first four games. “We’ve pretty much had our way on the bases. We’ve only had one girl thrown out,” Coach Paul Siegel said. Valerie Perez, Sofia Padilla and Martha Diaz each have six stolen bases. . . . Tashean Thomas and Stephanie Wasserman, starters for the North Hollywood girls’ basketball team, haven’t shown any signs of rustiness on a softball diamond. Thomas is batting .400, Wasserman .333.

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

West Valley League--Chatsworth started the season 3-0 but came back to earth Tuesday with a 7-3 loss to Kennedy in the conference opener. “We just didn’t have a good defensive game,” Coach Andrea Rochetti said. The Chancellors haven’t had any problems on offense in the nonconference season. Six starters are hitting better than .300 and two, Kristi Faciane and Tricia Hageman, are hitting .700 or higher. . . . Birmingham and Taft are probably the two most improved conference teams. The Braves’ only loss in nonconference play was a 3-1 decision to Reseda, a 4-A semifinalist last season. Birmingham had lopsided victories over Hollywood, 20-0, and Canoga Park, 15-1, although the Braves were routed by Granada Hills, 16-0, Tuesday.. . . . Taft has no seniors but the Toreadors won their conference opener, beating Cleveland on Tuesday and matching their victory total from last season.

North Valley League--Kennedy fared well in its foray against Southern Section competition, finishing fifth in the Downey tournament. The Golden Cougars’ only loss came to Downey in a tiebreaker.

Southern Section

ALPHA

Pitcher/infielder Jesse Leivo of Village Christian probably would like the Duarte tournament to continue throughout the season. During that tournament last week, the senior was eight for 15 with 12 RBIs and was 2-0 on the mound, allowing only four hits and two walks while striking out 32 in 19 innings.

CHANNEL

Buena Coach Peter Shedlosky said pitcher Nicole Greathouse debated for a week before deciding to give up softball this season. Shedlosky said the Bulldogs’ ace told him she needed a season off after playing volleyball and basketball this school year. “She said she’d never been able to be at home at 3 o’clock just to do homework or whatever,” Shedlosky said. “I’m very disappointed but I understand and respect her decision.” Greathouse was 16-3 last season and earned first team All-Southern Section Division I and All-Ventura County honors.

FOOTHILL

Burbank Coach Jen Fleming is accustomed to winning. She played center field on a Cal State Northridge team that two years ago reached the championship game of the Women’s College World Series, losing to Arizona. Now she is a rookie coach of a team that finished 2-21 last year and needs lots of work on fundamentals. “They need to learn the basics and they need to work on the mental game,” Fleming said. “That’s the only reason why they are losing. They can’t stay focused for the whole game.” The Bulldogs, at 2-5, already have matched last year’s victory total. . . .

Canyon, with new Coach Larry Mohr, better known as the Cowboys’ football coach, came close to cracking the top 10 last week. Canyon was tied, 0-0, with powerful South Hills until the seventh inning, when the Huskies scored twice to win. Canyon entered the week 5-2. . . . Coach Donna Hetman Lee learned all about building teams from scratch during her days at Taft. But coming over to Valencia, she expected a nucleus of travel-ball players to show up on campus. That didn’t happen, and the Vikings are 0-9. “We’re going to win a couple in league. You can count on that,” she said. Valencia has come close with recent 2-1 losses to strong teams at Hoover and Granada Hills. . . .

A new star for Hart? Shortstop Melissa Harrison drove in four runs in a game against Granada Hills last week. Coach Al Weil still marvels at her recent 220-foot home run. “It was the furthest ball I’ve seen hit in a long time,” he said.

FRONTIER

Erin Heinbechner, Moorpark’s No. 1 pitcher, took a perfect game into the seventh inning Tuesday against Calabasas but settled for a two-hitter after the Coyotes’ Keyna Bell led off the inning with an inside-the-park home run. . . . Santa Clara was 4-0 in nonleague games but has lost its first two league games to Calabasas and Nordhoff. “We didn’t play anybody in the preseason,” Saint assistant Tom McConneville said. “Now we’re back to reality. The elevator’s going down and the kids are the only ones who can hit the button to make it stop.” Santa Clara committed eight errors in Tuesday’s loss to Nordhoff. “And fielding was our strong point going into the season,” McConneville said. . . . Winless Santa Paula has committed 49 errors.

GOLDEN

How has Antelope Valley (3-2) lost any games considering its offensive punch? Shortstop Tashie Aguinaga is batting .632 with four doubles, three triples and eight stolen bases. Three other players are batting .357 or better, and Kelly Bleyl has hit two home runs.

MARMONTE

How competitive is this league? Three of the four league games Tuesday went extra innings. . . . Newbury Park, Agoura and Thousand Oaks were the only teams to play games last week, but not because of rainouts. None of the other five league teams had scheduled games because all opted to get in a full week of practice before starting league play this week. . . . How’s this for a dominating preleague season? In four games, Thousand Oaks outhit its opponents, 43-2, and outscored them, 35-1. Junior left-hander Jennifer Sharron has struck out 50 in 32 innings, recorded two perfect games and combined with Kelly Colbert on a no-hitter. . . .

Newbury Park’s impressive 15-hit performace against Crescenta Valley in the championship game of the Downey tournament last weekend illustrates the strength of Marmonte League teams. Coaches pick the Panthers to finish somewhere in the top four in the league. . . . Five starters for Newbury Park were batting better than .400 before Tuesday’s 5-0 victory over Channel Islands. . . .

Shortly after a no-hit, 15-strikeout performance against Dos Pueblos, senior right-hander Lisa DeStefano of Simi Valley came down with the flu and has missed the last four games. The good news is DeStefano should return to the lineup this week. The bad news is she passed her sickness on to her sister Cara, the starting catcher. . . .

Westlake first-year Coach Beth Calcante did not mince words after the Warriors were beat up by Newbury Park, 5-0, on Monday: “We got a good old-fashioned ass whipping. And you can quote me on that.” After a 3-2 extra-inning loss to Simi Valley a day later, Westlake, at 0-2 in the league, has nowhere to go but up. . . . Fifteen minutes after hitting a three-run home run against Thousand Oaks in the 11th inning of Camarillo’s 4-1 victory, Mandi Comer was ready to put the game--and the heroic swing--behind her. “I have to look to the next game,” Comer said. “You can’t live on what you did.” Camarillo was batting .393 as a team before Tuesday.

MISSION

Chaminade will utilize three pitchers--senior Dana Preston, sophomore Kelly Durkin and freshman Maureen LeCocq. Each has her own style, and how that style matches up against opponents will determine who starts, Coach Steve Harrington said. “Durkin is a specialist with junk, off-speed stuff,” Harrington said. “Preston is a specialist with speed. And LeCocq is kind of a complement between the two. I’ll mix ‘em up.” Durkin (2-0) pitched a no-hitter with three strikeouts against Hawthorne on Saturday. LeCocq, ranked fourth nationally among 14-and-under players in a recent Amateur Softball Assn. coaches’ poll, leads the Eagles with a .375 batting average and has scored five runs. Jennah Peake, an all-league soccer player for Chaminade, is the starting third baseman, replacing Sheila Shilati, who transferred in January to Alemany. . . .

Junior Becky Witt of Louisville, a member of the school’s resurgent basketball team, is starting in center field and batting leadoff, her first taste of softball in high school. Witt is batting .333 and has a .500 on-base percentage. “You want to have a Becky Witt at every position,” Coach Dana Vasquez said.

TRI-VALLEY

La Reina Coach Don Hyatt picks Oak Park as the league’s strongest team, but said the Regents could be in that position by the end of the regular season. “We’ve got a real young team but by playoffs we’ll be right there,” said Hyatt, who starts two freshmen and three sophomores. One of the freshmen is catcher Meghann Reiss, who threw out eight of the first nine runners attempting to steal on her and was batting .438 at week’s start. “She has the best arm we’ve had in my time here,” said Hyatt, who has coached La Reina since 1984. “And we’ve had a couple of All-CIF catchers.” The other freshman starter is center fielder Stephanie Hall. The infield is loaded with sophomores. Aimee Thompson starts at shortstop, Nicole Garofolo at second and Chrissy Odre and Kylene Krol are competing for the job at first.

Golf Notes

Southern Section

Camarillo lost sophomore Jess Card from its starting lineup when he broke his leg in two places while playing recreational soccer. Replacing Card in the lineup will be Jeff Karpman, a senior who started last season. Karpman is recovering from a swollen spleen that has kept him out of the lineup. . . . Paul Peterson, Camarillo’s No. 3 golfer, scored an eagle on the par-five second hole at Spanish Hills Country Club en route to a round of 74 against Newbury Park last week.

Track and Field Notes

Boys: Although Camarillo’s Josh Hill says that basketball will be his No. 1 sport when he heads to the Naval Academy in the fall, the Scorpion senior has set some lofty goals in track.

Namely, he wants to clear 7 feet in the high jump.

He figures that’s a reasonable goal after clearing 6-4 as a sophomore, 6-8 last year and a 6-8 again in the Channel Coast Invitational at Camarillo on Saturday.

“I’m very happy,” Hill said after equaling his personal best. “I’ve only been training for the high jump for about three weeks. I probably haven’t had more than 10 actual high-jump workouts.”

Girls: When Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks ran 10 minutes 17.0 seconds in the 3,200 meters at the Channel Coast Invitational, she moved to fourth on the all-time region list in that event and made Thousand Oaks the only school in the region to have produced three sub-10:40 performers.

Alemany’s Vickie Cook (10:11.79 in 1982), Newbury Park’s Denise Ball (10:15.99 in ‘82) and Agoura’s Amy Skieresz (10:16.42 in ‘95) are ahead of Mortensen on the all-time region list. Christy Farrell (10:35.27 in ‘86) and Stacey Auer (10:38.63 in ‘91) are the other Lancers to break 10:40. . . .

Mortensen’s 10:17.0 effort overshadowed several notable performances in the distance races at the Channel Coast meet. Canyon junior Julie Harris ran a personal best of 5:15.5 to win the 1,600 over Thousand Oaks freshman Amanda Armstrong (5:16.2). Harris followed that with another personal best of 11:21.4 to finish second in the 3,200, and freshman teammate Lauren Fleshman won the frosh-soph event in 11:25.1 in the first 3,200 race of her life.

Harris and Fleshman, the top two runners on Canyon’s state Division I cross-country championship team, moved to second and third on the school’s all-time list in the 3,200. Armstrong continues to amaze Thousand Oaks Coach Jack Farrell in her first year of distance running. A consistent top-five performer for Thousand Oaks’ cross-country team, Armstrong ran 5:33 in the 1,600 in the Spartan Relays on March 2 and added a 2:25 800 leg on a 3,200 relay before Saturday’s meet. “Her progression has been quick and sudden,” Farrell said. “She had no idea if [her 1,600 time] was good or not and she has no concept about pace. She just goes out and races.”. . .

Granada Hills junior Karen Seidman moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time region list in the pole vault when she cleared 9-6 in last week’s dual meet against Chatsworth. Agoura’s Jocelyn Chase (10-6 in ‘94), Hoover freshman Bridget Pearson (10-6 this year) and Chatsworth’s Kim Pickup (9-10 in ‘95) rank 1-2-3 in the event, which is in its third year. . . .

The Palmdale 400 relay team of Trani-sha Holmes, Monique Nolan, Edniesha Curry and Kadrina Coffee set a school record of 47.6 at Antelope Valley College on Saturday. Although it was the first time the foursome had run together this season because Nolan and Curry were starters on the Falcon basketball team that advanced to the semifinals of the Southern California Regionals, they moved into a tie for 10th on the all-time region list.

Volleyball Notes

City Section

Sylmar is on the move. The Spartans won the 14-team Venice tournament for the first time in school history and beat defending City Section 3-A champion Fairfax in the final. “It gives us a little confidence,” Coach Bob Thomson said. Sylmar is now going after another school first--a Valley Pac-8 Conference title. The Spartans, who won the East Valley League last season, could capture the Pac-8 if Van Nuys fails to recover from its slow start.

Southern Section

Alemany has finished third in the Mission League the past three years. That could change. The Indians are off to a 3-1 start in the league (4-3 overall), including a road victory Tuesday against Crespi. An early season turning point was a five-game nonleague loss to Bishop Montgomery, a Division III team. “We’re putting that loss behind us,” said Alemany Coach Jamie Quaglino, whose Indians squandered away a 2-0 lead in games. Alemany will have trouble catching Harvard-Westlake but has a good chance for second. . . .

Canyon split from the Golden League, which means good news and bad. The Cowboys are the favorites in the Foothill League, which begins its first season of volleyball next week. But Canyon no longer plays former Golden League rival Highland twice. “In a way I’m disappointed we don’t get to play Highland again,” said Canyon Coach Spencer MacCuish, whose team was swept by the Bulldogs last week in the teams’ only meeting. “But with them around, it’s stiffer competition. It’s mixed blessings.”

Buena is chasing third place, the Channel League’s final playoff spot. The Bulldogs are 2-3 in league play (3-4 overall), with Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos likely grabbing the top two spots. Matt Prosser, a 6-6 junior middle blocker, had a 19-kill, 14-block effort in a loss to San Marcos. “He’s definitely our go-to guy,” Bulldog Coach Brent Muth said.

*

Contributing: Mike Bresnahan, Dana Haddad, Vince Kowalick, Michael Lazarus, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, Tris Wykes, Peter Yoon.