Rebuilding Project at Taft Continues Ahead of Schedule

This was supposed to be a year to reconstruct and refurbish at Taft High.

Finish second or third in the Northwest Valley Conference. Win a match or two in the playoffs. Gain valuable experience for a playoff run next year.

It’s working out much better than that.

Taft defeated Granada Hills, 13-15, 15-9, 15-4, 14-16, 15-10, and took sole possession of first place in the conference in a boys’ volleyball match on Wednesday at Taft.

Mike Gledhill, a junior opposite hitter, delivered 30 kills for Taft, a young team that seems to improve with every match.

It may be premature to reserve a spot for Taft in the City Section championship match--last year’s final destination for the Toreadors--but you never know.

“It’s going to help a lot knowing we can beat any team,” Gledhill said. “If we put our mind to it, it’s ours.”

After dropping the first game, Taft trailed in the second game, 8-4, before making an 11-1 run.

The Toreadors (4-1, 3-0 in conference play) continued to roll in the third game.

But Granada Hills (5-1, 2-1) fought off three match points to win the fourth game.

“We had the match and blew it,” Taft Coach Doug Magorien said. “We could have folded after the mistakes we made.”

The Toreadors didn’t.

Gledhill had six kills and Brandon Brown had five blocks to lift the Toreadors in the fifth game.

“Typical Taft-Granada match,” Granada Hills Coach Tom Harp said.

Outside hitter Mike Aleman had six of his 17 kills in the first game for Granada Hills.

Royal def. Thousand Oaks, 15-8, 15-12, 15-12--The student gave the mentor a few scares, but that was about all.

Thousand Oaks Coach Tom Black, who spent the last two years as an assistant to Royal’s Bob Ferguson, brought in a much-improved squad to the Marmonte League match at Royal.

Royal (5-0, 3-0) was pushed to the limit, but not over it.

Cam Dickson and Jason McDaniel each had 14 kills for Royal, which overcame an 11-9 deficit in the second game and a 10-2 deficit in the third to sweep.

Thousand Oaks (4-2, 2-1), expected to be Royal’s toughest competition in the league, simply couldn’t hold onto the lead.

“The best thing is how much it hurts [the Lancers] to lose,” said Black, who played at Crespi and UC San Diego. “It’s really killing them. I don’t think we ever gave up.”

Neither did Royal, which overcame passing problems and strong blocking by Thousand Oaks.

“We were a little confused at times,” Ferguson said.

Thousand Oaks received a solid match from middle blocker Jack Parmalee, who had seven blocks.

Mark Kobal had four kills in the third game as Thousand Oaks jumped out to an eight-point lead.

Ferguson challenged the Royal middle blockers during a timeout and Dickson responded with four kills.