Asaoka Puts Forth a Little Extra Effort for Granada Hills : Prep volleyball: Highlanders triumph in Notre Dame tournament behind senior hitter’s MVP performance.

Outside hitter Danny Asaoka was prepared to go to great lengths to assure Granada Hills High of a victory over Crespi in the championship of the inaugural Notre Dame volleyball invitational Saturday night at Cal State Northridge.

“I would be on the ground giving it all I had before we were going to lose,” said Asaoka, a 6-foot-1 senior. “I would be fighting all the way.”

For the most part, however, Asaoka was able to remain upright as the Highlanders scored 12 points in a row to overcome a seven-point deficit and emerge with a 15-10 victory in the one-game championship match.

Asaoka, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, made his contributions. But he received plenty of help from his teammates.

“Our back-row people did a real good job too,” Granada Hills Coach Tom Harp said. “You need to pass, set and spike to be successful. It was definitely a team effort.”

Randy Eason had six kills and Bobby Curtis had five for Granada Hills, which went undefeated in 11 games in the 20-team, daylong tournament.

A Marcus Sumner spike gave Crespi a 10-3 lead in the championship match, but it would be the last point the Celts would score.

Granada Hills tied the score, 10-10, after Crespi was called for a double hit and Asaoka put the Highlanders ahead, 11-10, on a service ace.

“It didn’t look good for a while,” Harp said. “Crespi is a pretty big team and they were going over the tops of our blocks and nobody has done that to us this year.”

The Highlanders defeated Chatsworth, 15-9, and Verdugo Hills, 15-8, in the eight-team single-elimination semifinal round to advance to the championship.

Crespi went 7-1 in pool play and defeated Canyon and Simi Valley by 15-6 scores to advance.

“It was a grueling tournament,” Curtis said. “We held together mentally and physically during a tough time. We all have confidence in each other.”

Asaoka agreed.

“We were really confident out there,” he said. “We all work good as a team and are committed. We all wanted to win equally. It’s hard for one person to go up against an entire team.”

Crespi’s Frank Romano and Tom Black tried their best to do just that. Romano, a 6-3 senior outside hitter, had a game-high nine kills. Black, a 6-4 middle blocker, had six to lead the Celts.

In the third-place game, Gene Urcan had six kills to lift Chatsworth over Simi Valley, 15-9. Simi Valley fell behind, 8-3, but closed to 11-8 before losing.

Two teams from each of the four five-team pools advanced to the semifinal round.

Chatsworth and Notre Dame, both 7-1, advanced from the first pool; Cleveland (4-3) and Simi Valley (8-0) from the second; Canyon (7-1) and Crespi from the third; and Granada Hills and Verdugo Hills (5-3) from the fourth pool.