Taft Has Chatsworth’s Number--5--and Wins

The boys’ volleyball season is young, but Chatsworth High has already seen enough of one particular adversary.

Five-game matches.

For the second time in five days, the Chancellors fell in a match that went the distance in a Northwest Valley Conference opener Wednesday at Chatsworth.

Not exactly lending a shoulder to cry on was Taft, which scored a 15-6, 8-15, 14-16, 15-11, 15-11 victory and set up an important conference match next Wednesday against Granada Hills.

Taft (2-1) lost Joe Nargi to graduation, but the Toreadors showed that life goes on without The Times’ regional player of the year.

Comfortably sliding into Nargi’s vacated opposite hitter spot is junior Mike Gledhill, a 6-foot-5 left-hander who had 23 kills.

His total wasn’t close to the 35 kills he delivered in a five-game loss to Monroe last week--yes, the Toreadors also know the anguish of a lengthy loss--but Gledhill had some memorable kills, including one that grazed the 10-foot line late in the fifth game.

Gledhill, who played middle blocker last season, is learning his new position from someone who knows all about it. Nargi is an assistant with the Toreadors.

“He’s a role model,” said Gledhill, who, like most juniors, is prone to inconsistency at times.

“Just to try to work up to where he was. . . . “

Nargi helped lead Taft to the City Section 4-A Division title match last season, where the Toreadors lost to Palisades in four games.

That has become a motivational tool for Gledhill.

“We know how hard we have to work to get to that level,” Gledhill said. “We have to keep pushing.”

A return trip to the championship match might be a bit much to ask from a team that starts two sophomores and two juniors.

In the meantime, Taft has a potential first-place showdown next week with Granada Hills.

“That’s what our guys are looking forward to,” said Taft Coach Doug Magorien, who received solid efforts from more than Gledhill.

Masood Noorzay had 19 kills and Bryan Capper added 17 kills for the Toreadors, including 13 in the final two games.

Middle blocker Anthony Sharp was impressive in the late stages, pounding down six of his 10 kills in the fifth game.

“He’s our sparkplug in the middle,” Magorien said.

“When he [jumps] early, he’s tough to stop. He made some big sideouts.”

Chatsworth has to be the best team in the region with a 1-2 record.

David Lurth, who had 28 kills, and Shekabe Nazari, who added 23, were active in the middle throughout the match for the Chancellors.

But the fifth game belonged to Taft, despite eight kills from Lurth.

“The secret is to get ourselves in a position to not play that fifth game,” said Coach Bud Dow of Chatsworth.