Van Nuys, Taft Top Volleyball Draws

Defending champion Van Nuys (14-1 overall, 12-0 in league) and West Valley League champion Woodland Hills Taft (12-0, 10-0) were awarded the top two seedings in the City Section girls’ volleyball playoffs Thursday.

Sylmar (13-2, 10-2), runner-up to Van Nuys in the Valley Mission League, was seeded third and Marine League champion San Pedro (11-1, 10-0) fourth in the 16-team tournament, which begins Tuesday. Eastern League champion L.A. Garfield (14-1, 14-0) was seeded fifth, followed by West Valley runner-up Granada Hills (11-2, 8-2) and Western League champion Palisades (13-0, 12-0), a finalist last year. Sunset Six champion Tujunga Verdugo Hills (11-1, 9-1) was seeded eighth.

*Carson, winner of the last two City Section girls’ tennis titles, was seeded third behind Granada Hills and Palisades.

The Colts (13-0 overall, 10-0 in league) won the Marine League but it was determined by a committee of representatives and coaches that West Valley League champion Granada Hills (13-0, 10-0) and Western League champion Palisades (13-0, 12-0) be seeded first and second, respectively, based on strength of schedule.

Granada Hills, which lost to Carson in the finals the last two years, was seeded first unanimously and earned a first-round bye in the 12-team City tournament, as did Palisades, Carson and No. 4 North Hollywood (12-1, 6-0), champion of the Sunset Six League. Fifth-seeded Westchester, No. 6 Reseda Cleveland, No. 7 L.A. Marshall and No. 8 Venice also host first-round matches Tuesday.

-- Steve Galluzzo

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Two more Southern Section schools have forfeited football games because of ineligible players and a third will do the same when section officials receive the paperwork.

Corona Centennial, No. 15 in The Times’ rankings and No. 1 in the section’s Division V poll, forfeited its nonleague victory over Rialto Eisenhower. Centennial’s record falls to 6-2 and Eisenhower’s improves to 4-4.

El Monte Arroyo, the fifth-ranked team in the Division VII poll, forfeits its nonleague victory over Temple City. Arroyo is now 5-3 and Temple City, is 6-2.

Hemet’s forfeit of its nonleague victory over San Jacinto becomes official once Hemet officials file the paperwork. Hemet’s record will fall to 4-4 and San Jacinto’s will improve to 6-2.

-- Bob Rohwer

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Van Nuys Grant running back Anthony Dickson will play in tonight’s Sunset Six League game against Tujunga Verdugo Hills after getting injured in each of the Lancers’ last two games.

Dickson, who has rushed for 1,133 yards this season, suffered a hip pointer after one carry in Grant’s 25-22 victory last week over North Hollywood. He injured his left ankle after two carries in the Lancers’ win over Sun Valley Poly the week before.

“He wasn’t ready last weekend,” Grant Coach Bill Foster said. “[Thursday] was the first day he practiced this week but he did some light running on Wednesday. He’s probably 85% to 90%.”

Grant is 6-2 overall and leads the Sunset Six with a 3-0 record. Verdugo Hills is 3-4-1 and 2-1 in league.

“I think we realized we’re a true team,” Foster said. “We’re not looking to rely on one guy to make a play.”

-- Eric Stephens

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Santa Ana Foothill girls’ water polo player Brittany Hayes, The Times’ player of the year last season, and Santa Margarita’s Erika Figge have committed to USC. Gabbie Domanic of Foothill also announced she has committed to UCLA. All three were Southern Section Division I first-team selections last season.

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TOP PERFORMERS

CROSS-COUNTRY

Phillip Reid, Oxnard Rio Mesa: Won his fourth consecutive Pacific View League title with a time of 14:57 at College Park in Oxnard.

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Becky Green, Huntington Beach Marina: Had 37 kills in a 15-6, 15-5, 13-15, 12-15, 15-12 Sunset League upset of No. 5 Anaheim Esperanza.

Kristina Baum, Whittier California: Had 25 kills in a 15-12, 15-3, 15-12 victory over Whittier La Serna to give California its first Del Rio League title.

BOYS’ WATER POLO

Edgar Shaghoulian, Glendale: Had 10 steals in an 11-9 victory over Arcadia to help the Dynamiters clinch the Pacific League title. Scott Langendoen had six goals for Arcadia, giving him 192 for the season (sixth all-time in Southern Section) and 415 for his career (seventh all-time).

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