Valencia Chasing First Title Behind Dynamic Hitting Duo

Honors pre-calculus was only offered during fourth period, nearly causing Corey Feldt to lose his starting spot on the Valencia High boys’ volleyball team.

The decision last fall to choose academics over a volleyball class made sense to Feldt, but the senior outside hitter had no idea how much his teammates would improve.

Feldt was stunned when he began practicing with the team after school in February.

“Everything I hit at the guys was blocked back at me,” Feldt said. “I couldn’t believe how high they were [jumping]. After the first practice, I realized this was our year.”

Feldt, a three-year starter, regained his form and his starting spot in helping the Vikings pursue their first Foothill League title.

Valencia (24-4, 6-1 in league play) defeated two-time defending league champion Canyon (20-5, 6-1) for the first time last week and, with a victory today over the Cowboys, would all but clinch the title.

Feldt and Chris Haigh give the Vikings a potent one-two punch at outside hitter.

“You’ve got to respect both of them,” said Valencia Coach Kevin Kornegay, in his fourth season. “You can’t just try to take away one of them. They’re one of the reasons why we are where we’re at. They’re one of the cornerstones.”

Haigh, a 6-foot-3 senior who had 20 kills against Canyon, never played volleyball until his sophomore season. He was asked to try out by Kornegay, who spotted Haigh walking around campus.

“I didn’t have a sport to go to,” said Haigh, who played baseball as a freshman but was planning to drop the sport. “I said, ‘Why not volleyball?’ ”

After an adjustment period--”It was harder than it looked,” he said--Haigh has developed into one of the region’s top players.

“He’s by far our most potent player on offense,” Kornegay said. “He can bury the ball.”

As a result, Haigh and Feldt might be able to raise Valencia’s first championship volleyball banner on the gym wall.

“It’d be cool to come back in a couple years and say, ‘Hey, I helped put that up there,’ ” Feldt said.

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Several Valley-area teams are expected to earn high seedings in the City Section playoffs, which begin next Tuesday.

Grant (11-0), with All-City middle blocker Mike Charleston, is expected to be seeded No. 1, and two-time defending champion Taft (11-1), which lost to Grant, could be No. 2. The seeding meeting is Thursday at Hamilton High in West L.A.

Monroe (9-2) could be seeded No. 3 because of a nonleague sweep of Venice (10-1), which advanced to the City final last season and is expected to be seeded No. 4.

Chatsworth (9-2) lost twice to Taft in West Valley League play, but could be No. 5.

Palisades (7-4) had to forfeit two victories because of an ineligible player, but remains a tough team with UCLA-bound hitter Ian Wolterstorff.

Sylmar, Granada Hills and North Hollywood are also expected to be seeded in the 16-team City Championship playoffs.

Unlike past years, there is no clear-cut favorite.

“There doesn’t seem to be a dominant team out there,” said Sylmar Coach Bob Thomson, in his 17th season. “In the past, there might have been a Pali or Taft out there that was head and shoulders above the rest, but this year it’s up for grabs. I don’t see a real standout.”

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Volleyball isn’t known as a contact sport, but that hasn’t stopped Ryan Foltz, a football player who plays out side hitter for Westlake.

Foltz, a cornerback-receiver who has signed with California, had many memorable moments last football season, with four interceptions, 49 receptions and 12 touchdowns.

But volleyball has its plusses, he said.

“It’s a lot of fun, kind of a change of pace,” he said. “It’s still physically demanding, just in a different fashion. The constant jumping gets wearing after a while.”

The 6-1 Foltz is a big reason for the Warriors’ turnaround from Marmonte League afterthoughts to contenders.

Along with outside hitter Ian Larson, Foltz and the Warriors (14-7, 6-4) are trying to secure third place and a playoff spot.

“We’re starting to get more established as a program,” Foltz said. “Before it was a new coach in and out every year. There was never any [consistent] features in it. They’re really starting to make a program of it now.”