Ventura Is No Easy Mark for Channel League Opponents Anymore

Coaches in the Channel League used to mark an indelible W next to Ventura on the schedule, accurately predicting an easy victory weeks or months before playing the Cougars.

Now they’re using question marks.

Ventura’s rise to the top of the league has been as unpredictable as it has been unparalleled for the Cougars. Longtime losers to Santa Barbara, Goleta Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara San Marcos, the Cougars are striking back with an 18-0 record, 6-0 in league play.

“We’re kind of all mesmerized by it,” Ventura Coach Debbie Litten said.

Nine seniors have led the turnaround, including setter Robyn Keune, middle blocker Elena DeAlba and opposite hitter Sammy Gilden.

Ventura gave up seven points in a three-game sweep of Santa Barbara and outscored Dos Pueblos, 30-2, in the final two games of a four-game victory.

San Marcos has been more of a challenge, but the Cougars prevailed the first time in five games and in four last Thursday.

“We’ve never had that much control over Santa Barbara schools before,” said Litten, in her eighth year. “It’s a nice change for us. We’ve always been on the other side, it seems.”

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Beware the Bulldogs: Ventura isn’t the only team to turn ills into kills. Burbank hadn’t won a league match in three years, but is in the thick of the Foothill League race.

The Bulldogs (9-5, 5-3) would clinch their first trip to the playoffs since 1989 with a victory tonight against Canyon Country Canyon or Thursday against Valencia.

“We know we have a chance going into every single match,” fourth-year Coach Darin Wolf said. “Before, that wasn’t always the case when we had some girls thinking they were going to lose. The mentality is different now.”

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City championship: Playoff pairings for the City Section will be announced Thursday, with several teams vying for the top three seedings.

Chatsworth reached the finals last season and could earn the top seeding while Palisades, which won championships from 1997-99, could be seeded No. 2. Van Nuys, a surprise this season, has a shot at a top-three seeding.

Westchester and defending champion Sylmar are expected to earn high seedings, as is Garfield, which won its fourth consecutive Eastern League title last week.

The playoffs are less predictable than in the past, although Chatsworth, with All-City middle blocker Linda Wang, is a slight favorite to win for the first time since 1994.

“I think that it’s very likely a little more wide open than in years past,” Chatsworth Coach Bud Dow said. “But at the same time, when my kids are playing well, nobody can touch us. If we don’t play well, we get really ugly in a hurry.”

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Different viewpoint: The season was supposed to be over for Sarah Kellard, plain and simple.

She had surgery for a torn ACL and had a cadaver ligament inserted in her right knee Aug. 1, an apparent season-ending operation for the Calabasas Viewpoint senior.

But Kellard returned Oct. 15 and delivered five kills against North Hollywood Oakwood.

“It doesn’t feel completely normal yet and occasionally it hurts a little, but that’s part of the healing process,” Kellard said.

Viewpoint (13-1) is ranked No. 3 in Southern Section Division IV-A.

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Keeping tabs: Danielle Bauer, a former standout at Santa Ana Foothill, led UC Santa Barbara in kills for the 17th time in 21 matches this season, with 17 kills in a sweep of Utah State on Saturday.

Bauer also had 14 kills in a sweep of Idaho.

The Gauchos (12-9) are ranked No. 21.

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Sneak peek: Manhattan Beach Mira Costa hasn’t lost a league match since 1984, and could wrap up another Bay League title against Palos Verdes Peninsula on Wednesday at Mira Costa.

“It’s definitely been a [long] streak,” Coach Dae Lea Aldrich said.

The Mustangs (22-5, 11-0) defeated Peninsula in four games Oct. 10.