Royal Seeded No. 1 in Volleyball

Royal High, which won the Marmonte League title and the prestigious Redondo tournament, earned the top seeding in the Southern Section Division I boys’ volleyball playoffs.

The Highlanders were top-seeded in Division I for the first time and will host the winner of a wild-card match between Lancaster and Valencia.

Wild-card play begins Wednesday; first-round matches are Friday.

Harvard-Westlake, Mission League runner-up to second-seeded Loyola, plays at Cerritos in the first round and could play Golden League champion Highland in the second round.

In Division II, Alemany, which finished third in the Mission League, plays at Beverly Hills in a first-round match. UCLA-bound setter Richard Nelson, who missed three weeks because of a broken finger, is expected to return for Alemany.

* For the first time, all four semifinalists in the City Section upper-division boys’ volleyball playoffs are Valley schools.

In City Championship matches tonight at 7, top-seeded Monroe hosts No. 5 Chatsworth and No. 2 Taft hosts No. 6 Poly.

In a City Division semifinal, top-seeded Kennedy hosts No. 4 Canoga Park at 7.

DIVING

The Dumais family has dominated the Southern Section Division I diving championship for the last four years.

Brice Dumais of Buena High will try to keep the title in the family today, when he competes in the Division I finals at Heritage Park in Irvine.

Dumais, a Southern Methodist-bound senior who won the Channel League championship last week, will try to follow in the footsteps of older brothers Justin and Troy. Justin, now at USC, won Division I titles in 1995 and ’96. Troy, who attends Texas, was champion in 1997 and last season.

Brice, who finished second to Troy last year, will face competition from junior Ryan Southwick of Royal and senior Erik Patton of Westlake.

The boys’ finals begin at 3:30 p.m., following the girls’ competition at 12:30.

* Patton and Thousand Oaks resident Josh Joffred helped the Rose Bowl Aquatics diving team to a sixth-place finish recently in the Junior Olympic winter west national meet in St. Louis.

Patton placed 14th on the one-meter springboard and 19th on the three-meter board in the 16-18 age group.

Joffred, 13, placed third on the three-meter springboard and fifth on the one-meter board in the 12-13 age group. Joffred’s performance qualified him for an international meet in Amsterdam later this month, when he’ll compete 14-15 division.

BASEBALL

* Rio Mesa High forfeited a victory over Oxnard last week because a player who had been ejected from the previous game was in attendance.

* Johnny Torres, a left-handed pitcher for Yucaipa High, has signed with Cal State Northridge. Torres is 7-2 with a 1.60 earned-run average this season.

* Denny Barrett, who has coached Glendale College to consecutive Western State Conference Southern Division championships, has been offered the position of assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho.

Barrett, who played at Lewis-Clark, said he will decide whether to accept the job at the conclusion of the state playoffs that begin this weekend.

* The Master’s College (37-12) meets Albertson College (38-15) of Caldwell, Idaho, on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Biola in a first-round game of the six-team NAIA Far West Regional.

Albertson, the defending NAIA champion, is ranked No. 6 and Master’s is ranked No. 14. Master’s defeated Albertson three times this season in nonconference games.

* Glendale College (23-21) is seeded No. 13 and travels to No. 4 Palomar (30-7) this week for a best-of-three series in the first round of the Southern California playoffs.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

* Moorpark, Canyons and Antelope Valley will compete in the 16-team, double-elimination Southern California playoffs Friday and Saturday.

Moorpark, (30-9), seeded No. 4, hosts No. 13 Chaffey (22-22) on Friday at noon.

Friday at 2 p.m., No. 6 Canyons (30-12-1) faces No. 11 Fullerton (34-11) at Palomar and No. 8 Antelope Valley (32-15-1) plays No. 9 Cuesta (37-11) at Cypress.

GOLF

* Former Granada Hills High standout Darren Angel has turned professional and hopes to play on the Nike tour this summer. Angel, 22, has been playing for Arizona State. He helped Granada Hills win three City championships.

* Kyle Thurston of Moorpark shot an even-par 71 Sunday to win the 12-13 age division at the Anaheim City Junior championship.

Thurston shot 148 for the two-day tournament, which was played Saturday at Miller Golf Course and Sunday at Anaheim Hills Golf Course.

MISCELLANY

* Brian Quinn, executive director of athletics at Loyola Marymount, said he withdrew his candidacy for the athletic director job at Cal State Northridge last week because he wanted to remain at Loyola.

Quinn, athletic director at Loyola from 1985-98, said his decision was influenced mostly by family. Quinn has two daughters who are students at Loyola and two more expected to enroll at the school.

* Calabasas High is having an alumni softball game Saturday at 10 a.m. at Calabasas.

Contact: Gina Hairapetian, 805-222-9483.

AUTO RACING

* Cory Kruseman of Ventura finished third in the Sprint Car Racing Assn. 30-lap main event Saturday in Phoenix.