Taft Volleyball Team Finishes Unbeaten in Conference Play

Caught in the doldrums Wednesday, the Taft High boys’ volleyball team needed the winds of momentum to fill its sails in a match against Granada Hills.

Adam James provided the necessary spark in the fourth game to power the visiting Toreadors to a 15-11, 15-5, 8-15, 15-7 victory in a West Valley League finale Wednesday.

Taft (11-2, 9-0 in Northwest Valley Conference play) finished as West Valley champion.

James led a four-point run in the fourth game with three consecutive aces and finished the match with two blocks and a kill.

“The whole team was dead,” James said. “We had no intensity. When I got the first ace, it got us pumped up. When I got the second one, (the intensity) got better and better.”

James helped Taft get off to a quick start with five kills and a block in the first game. With Casey Sheahan and Daniel Kim leading the attack in the second game, the Toreadors built a 13-1 advantage and appeared headed for a sweep.

But then Taft hit the skids.

The Highlanders made a run at Taft before a block by Eric Lee and a kill by Sheahan closed out the second game. Granada Hills (8-4, 5-4) continued its surge by winning the third game.

“We lost our concentration, what I like to call our focus,” Taft Coach Doug Magorien said. “It makes me really happy to see Adam come through with a match like this. If it wasn’t for Adam, we wouldn’t be where we are this year.”

During his decisive service run in the fourth game, James exploited an ankle injury suffered by the Highlanders’ Bobby Curtis early in the game.

“They lost one of their best passers and Adam did a good job of exposing them,” Magorien said. “Losing Curtis left an opening for us to rip into.”

Granada Hills began the week with a slim chance of tying Taft for the West Valley title. But those hopes died when the Highlanders lost to Cleveland in five games Monday and Taft defeated Reseda.

“The guys were pretty motivated to go undefeated,” Magorien said. “We’ve won the conference championship before, but we’ve never gone undefeated in my seven years of coaching here.”