After Long Day, Valley Survivors Succumb to No. 1

With 49 teams, 384 games of pool play, another 23 games in the playoffs and nearly 14 hours of boys’ volleyball, Saturday’s Tournament of Champions seemed like two days in the Valley.

Toward the end, there were only two teams left from the Valley.

Canyon High and Chatsworth advanced to the quarterfinals at Cal State Northridge before being eliminated.

The Cowboys lost to Mt. Carmel, the top-ranked team in the San Diego Section, 15-5, and Chatsworth lost to Fresno Bullard, the top-ranked team in the Central Section, 15-3.

Canyon made the biggest splash of the 14 area teams that competed. Ignored in the Southern Section Division I poll, the Cowboys showed they deserve some credit, winning all eight of their games in pool play and entering the playoffs with a first-round bye.

Canyon then beat Highland, 15-11, before running into Mt. Carmel.

“Entering today, I thought it would be a success if we got to the quarterfinals, and we did that,” said Canyon Coach Spencer MacCuish, who wasn’t overly concerned with the rankings snub.

“I know where we stand,” he said. “To be honest, rankings don’t mean a lot.”

Chatsworth cleared a hurdle in the first round of the playoffs with a 15-11 victory over University, the three-time defending City Section 4-A Division champion.

The Chancellors played without middle blocker Stephen Wiessner, but University was without UCLA-bound Mark Williams, who has tendinitis in his left knee.

“It’s a good confidence-builder,” Chatsworth Coach Bud Dow said. “Only a couple guys consciously realized that Williams wasn’t playing.”

The Chancellors then defeated Van Nuys in the second round, 15-9, before losing to Bullard.

Campbell Hall advanced to the second round before losing to Eagle Rock, 16-14.