Chatsworth and Taft Get Set for a Rematch

There seemed to be little chance the boys’ volleyball team at Chatsworth would defend its City Section championship.

The Chancellors had no returning starters, no proven setter, a couple of inexperienced outside hitters and a top prospect who had been declared academically ineligible.

Go figure. In a rematch of the 2002 final, Chatsworth (13-3) faces West Valley League rival Woodland Hills Taft (10-5) at 8 tonight in the City Championship match at Cal State Northridge. Palisades (7-9) plays Westchester (7-8) at 5:30 p.m. in the Invitational division final.

Coach Greg Saltzberg said Chatsworth has steadily improved since installing Collin Parker as the lone setter and dumping a 5-2 offense for a 6-1. Parker had 34 assists in a semifinal sweep over Huntington Park.

“Things have run a lot smoother since we let Collin run the offense,” Saltzberg said.

It didn’t hurt that 6-foot-4 middle blocker Ramsey Darling, who missed the first 10 weeks of the season, became academically eligible in time for the playoffs. He adds height at the net alongside 6-7 middle blocker Daniel Kitzes. Outside hitters Sean Freeark and William Pate, who had 12 kills each in the semifinal victory, provide scoring power.

Taft is making its sixth consecutive appearance in the title game and is after its fourth championship in that span, but the Toreadors have their work cut out for them. They dropped both regular-season matches to Chatsworth, the first in five games and the second in three. Nonetheless, Taft has faced such odds before. It swept another West Valley League foe, Granada Hills, to advance to the championship game. Granada Hills had won both regular-season matches.

Palisades Coach Dave Smith said he turned down a berth in the City Championship division to compete in the Invitational division after four players quit during the season. Two more were injured in an automobile accident about two weeks ago and are not available for the playoffs.

-- Paul McLeod

Two teams with rich postseason histories will meet when Woodland Hills El Camino Real and Palisades play for the City Section boys’ tennis championship at 1 today at Balboa Sports Complex in Encino.

El Camino Real (15-0) has beaten Granada Hills for the last three titles.

The Conquistadores, led by singles players Bruce Aiken, Phil Gegenheimer, Troy Aiken and Dan Lang and the top doubles team of Nick Kogan and Dan Escobedo, are riding a 49-match winning streak as they try to become the first City team since Palisades to win four consecutive titles.

Palisades (20-1) is led by sophomore No. 1 player Chris Ko, who won the 16-and-under Ojai tournament singles championship last month.

-- Lauren Peterson

The Carpinteria girls’ swim team won the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay Thursday to hold off Riverside King and Quartz Hill for the Southern Section Division IV title at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

The Warriors came into the final event with a two-point lead over King and Quartz Hill but pulled away for a nine-second victory in 3 minutes 41.02 seconds. Carpinteria finished with 184 points, followed by Quartz Hill (176) and King (168).

Carpinteria also won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:41.56 and Emlynn Tursick lowered her division record in the 100 backstroke with a victory in 57.83.

Boosted by victories in all three relays, Hacienda Heights Los Altos easily won the boys’ title in the three-year-old division with 278 points. Garden Grove Pacifica and Quartz Hill tied for second with 119.

Brett Shiflett, a junior at Westlake Village Oaks Christian, set division records in the girls’ 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. She won the freestyle in 1:50.90, surpassing the previous record of 1:51.82, set by Melissa Wong of Cerritos Whitney. Shiflett, who finished second to Wong in the 200 and 500 freestyles last season, opted for the butterfly as her second individual event and broke a two-year-old division record of 57.32, edging former record holder Tursick, who finished in 57.97.

Sean Chun of Hacienda Heights Wilson set a division record of 51.34 in the boys’ 100 butterfly. Ryan McNeill of Placentia Valencia set the previous record of 51.39 last season. Valencia now competes in Division II.

Dan Simonsen of La Verne Bonita broke his own meet record in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 56.87.