Sylmar, Chatsworth Are the Talk of the City Section

The City Championship isn’t until mid-November.

But to hear some people talk, it takes place Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Sylmar High plays at Chatsworth in a nonleague girls’ volleyball match that pits the top two City teams in the region, if not the City Section.

Chatsworth handily defeated Sylmar last year and appears to have the upper hand this season with 6-foot-1 Linda Wang and 6-4 K.C. Doig.

Sylmar counters with 5-9 Stephanie Cisneros and an attitude that the road to the title starts--and maybe ends--on Tuesday.

“It’s going to determine the City champion,” Sylmar assistant Soheil Mashhoud said of Tuesday’s match. “We’ve seen everybody. It’s going to come down to us and Bud.”

That would be Chatsworth Coach Bud Dow, who has his best team since 1995, when the Chancellors lost to Roosevelt in the City final.

Dow, however, is playing down the importance of the match.

“If both teams come to play, it could be fun,” he said.

Sylmar outside hitter Nancy Ariza is expected to be back from a sprained ankle in time to play against Chatsworth.

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Sylmar-Chatsworth isn’t the only big match next week.

Harvard-Westlake hosts Bishop Montgomery in a nonleague match Wednesday between the No. 1 and No. 3-ranked teams in Southern Section Division III.

They have met in the playoffs four of the last five years, and the rivalry is already percolating this year.

At the Orange County tournament last weekend, Harvard-Westlake Coach Jess Quiroz and Bishop Montgomery Coach Kim Willeman disagreed over the date of the match.

Harvard-Westlake believed the match was scheduled last Tuesday, but Willeman said her team was playing Marymount that night.

The match was rescheduled for next Wednesday.

Bishop Montgomery defeated Harvard-Westlake in the regular season and in the Division III-AA final last year.

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Strange team, Oxnard.

Less than a week after defeating Santa Barbara for the first time in school history, the Yellowjackets (3-1) were shelled by Buena in three games.

Coach Lori Rice scheduled a 6:30 practice the next morning.

“The girls knew it was bad,” Rice said of the uninspired effort. “We know we need to work on passing and serving.”

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Forget about assists. These setters want a more glorious stat . . . kills.

Tracy Neumeier of La Canada and Janee Richards of Buena logged an unusual amount of kills earlier this week.

Neumeier had 10 in a victory over Agoura and Richards had seven against Oxnard.

“That’s quite unusual [for Neumeier],” La Canada Coach Kevin Boyke said. “But she jumps so well and she’s very aggressive. Normally, she’s trying to set up the offense. But if it’s open, she’ll take it.”