Westlake Plans Run at Marmonte Title

They run around the court before practice.

They run up and down hills surrounding the Westlake High campus.

They run as much as some cross-country teams.

Then the Westlake girls’ volleyball team begins to play its sport, in which it will run plenty of people off the court this season.

The Warriors, best defensive team in the Marmonte League last year, are better on offense. And conditioning.

“It’s a time to clear our minds from school,” said Erika Denison, a 6-foot-2 junior middle blocker. “When we get on the court afterward, we’re blank and just ready for volleyball.”

Denison wasn’t ready for her encounter with a fan at Taco Bell earlier this summer.

She wasn’t wearing anything that would tip off her school or her sport, but she was approached.

“Are you from Westlake?” the man asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

“You’re going to win,” he said.

Word travels fast but Westlake isn’t about to deem superpowers Royal, Agoura and Thousand Oaks as rear-view mirror material.

“They’ll be ready to play us,” said Coach Chris Rundle, in her third year at Westlake. “When you’re labeled No. 1 in your area, teams play up for that.”

But who will go down in the talent-heavy Marmonte League?

Last year, there was a four-way tie for the regular season title.

Royal has lost three key starters and Agoura two to graduation. Thousand Oaks lost junior Courtney Miller, who transferred to . . . Westlake.

The 6-foot-2 Miller, an all-league selection last year, joins 5-7 junior setter Brooke Rundle, another all-league selection.

Add 5-9 Heather Hutchison and 5-10 Megan Mullen, junior outside hitters who were second-team all-league picks last season, and that’s a scary combination.

The Warriors, who have nine juniors and two sophomores, sneaked up on opponents last season and defeated Thousand Oaks in the regular-season finale to reach the playoffs, where they promptly were bounced by Mater Dei.

“It was kind of depressing,” Mullen said.

But also kind of rewarding.

“I think we were intimidated,” she said, “but I think this year we’re a little more confident.”

The off-season was a big help.

Several of the Warriors played for the Renegades, a club team that won the 16-and-under division at the Volleyball Festival in Davis, Calif.

The trick will be to win the Marmonte League, which the Warriors, before last year’s logjam at the top, hadn’t done since 1985. Even then, they were co-champions.

The roadblocks come from Royal--which has 5-11 outside hitter Carrie Swartz and 6-foot middle blocker Niki Guerra--and Thousand Oaks, which boasts 6-2 middle blocker Jenn Detmer, who will play for Stanford next year.

The latter may pose the more interesting threat.

“Big rivalry,” said Miller, who called her transfer to Westlake an easy transition. “[But] I have friends on that team and, more or less, enemies. It’s a challenge I guess.”

A challenge that is being accepted by Rundle, who played at UCLA and in the International Volleyball Assn., the first pro volleyball league.

“My goal is not to build a team, but a program,” Rundle said. “That’s what makes me so happy--the girls at Westlake are finally competitive in their own gym.

“They’ll have to keep earning it every game, every match. But Westlake is hungry.”

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Harvard-Westlake lost four starters from a team that won section and state championships last season, but 6-foot-2 middle blocker Malaika Naulls and 5-11 swing hitter Christine Bohle should make the Wolverines a title contender again. Van Nuys junior Angela Eckmier, a 6-1 middle blocker, already is drawing interest from colleges. Eckmier will team with 5-6 outside hitter Jane Ahn as the Wolves try to repeat as City Section 3-A champions.

* THE PROMISING: Middle blocker Nicole Greathouse (6-2) could give Buena a shot at the Channel League title. Notre Dame probably won’t dislodge Harvard-Westlake in the Mission League, but all-league selections Hilda Osmanian, a 5-7 setter, and Kathryn Martin, a 5-9 outside hitter, make the Knights a threat. La Reina, which finished two victories from the State Division IV finals last year, has a talented trio of Alyssa Hain, Aimee Thompson and Tory Fithian. L.A. Baptist comes back with Kristen Jensen and Gloria Erickson.

* FAST FACT: Chatsworth’s Jennifer Joseph averaged 6.4 kills per game last year. The Chancellors will try to reach the City 4-A title match for the third year in a row.