Injuries Problematic for Westlake

Westlake Village Westlake made a run at the Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley girls’ volleyball tournament title on Saturday, but the Warriors were slowed by injuries, and finally, Mountain View St. Francis.

Outside hitters Alex Johnson, a senior, and Jillian Lane, a junior, sparked Westlake (10-2), which played the tournament without junior setter Kelsey Kaehler and the final match without senior opposite hitter Tawny Summers.

Kaehler was sidelined by a sprained left ankle she suffered in a Marmonte League match last week against Newbury Park. Summers sat out with a sore shoulder. Cathy Quilico, the team’s libero who had played setter last season, returned to her old position in place of Kaehler.

“She was a little rusty, but apparently not too bad,” said Coach Ernest Rittenhouse, whose Warriors are No. 8 in the Southern Section Division II-AA coaches’ poll. “Being down a couple starters, I’m very proud of how well we did.”

Summers is likely to return for Westlake’s league match tonight at Simi Valley. Kaehler could be out longer.

“She’s still limping around,” Rittenhouse said.

Lauren Peterson

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Football

Shareece Wright, who can play five positions at Colton and has averaged 16.7 yards a carry through the first three games, will be out of the lineup for at least four weeks with a broken hand.

Wright suffered the injury in the first half of Colton’s 43-26 nonleague loss to Crenshaw on Friday, but continued to play in the second half.

“If we’re lucky, he’ll be able to play with a cast in four weeks,” Coach Harold Strauss said.

Wright is a running back and defensive back, returns punts and kicks and is the Yellowjackets’ punter. He had rushed 35 times for 583 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 194.3 yards a game. He had averaged 368 all-purpose yards.

-- Martin Henderson

Darrion Weems, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound junior offensive lineman who enrolled at Woodland Hills Taft after his family had to abandon New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina, made his debut last week against North Hills Monroe.

Coach Troy Starr has inserted him in the starting lineup at tackle and believes Weems has All-City potential.

“Without question, he’s Division I caliber,” Starr said. “The sky’s the limit.”

Sione Fua, Encino Crespi’s All-Southern Section defensive tackle, will be sidelined several weeks after suffering an ankle injury last week against Lake Balboa Birmingham. X-rays were negative, but Fua is scheduled to undergo an MRI today to determine if there was ligament damage. The Celts play host to No. 6 Ventura St. Bonaventure on Friday.

Eric Sondheimer

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Boys’ Water Polo

Perhaps the biggest surprise at the South Coast tournament last week was the play of La Canada and Riverside Poly.

La Canada, the top-ranked team in Southern Section Division III, upset Division I power Lake Forest El Toro, 10-8, in the third-place game Saturday at Newport Harbor. Doug McNeese and Gamal Rady each had three goals for the Spartans (8-3).

La Canada defeated another traditionally strong Division I team, Corona del Mar, 8-6, in a quarterfinal on Friday, one day after beating Anaheim Servite, the top team in Division II, in a pool-play game.

Riverside Poly, ranked No. 1 in Division V, rallied from a 6-0 deficit against San Diego Section-power La Jolla The Bishops to win the fifth-place game, 8-7, on Saturday.

Jessee Warkentin had 11 saves in the fifth-place semifinal earlier in the day to help the Bears (10-1) upset fourth-seeded Los Alamitos, 10-6. Poly also has a victory over El Toro this season.

The Bears are scheduled to play at Servite today.

Dan Arritt

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Baseball

Matt Hiserman, a pitcher at Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, has committed to Santa Clara. In April, he was struck in the face by a line drive during a game against Riverside Poly. Though he suffered two fractures of the upper jawbone on the right side of his face, Hiserman returned to the mound the next week.

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Miscellany

A high school recruiting seminar sponsored by Irvine Valley College will take place Sunday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the campus at 5500 Irvine Center Drive. The free seminar will feature college representatives discussing athletic recruiting.

For information: (949) 451-5398.