Valencia Is a Notch Above

One has to wonder how the Southern Section Division I boys’ volleyball playoffs might have turned out had Valencia been allowed to move up from Division II.

Defending champion Los Angeles Loyola (21-2) and the comeback kids from Westlake Village Westlake (25-1) tangle at 7 tonight at Cypress College for the Division I title, and Valencia (28-2) is a heavy favorite to repeat as Division II champion when it faces Santa Barbara (17-9) at 4 p.m.

Valencia swept Corona del Mar in the semifinals, and Santa Barbara barely got by Laguna Beach in five. Valencia swept Santa Barbara in a nonleague match March 16.

Judging by the way Valencia handled Division I teams during the regular season, it’s fair to say that the Vikings would have had a major impact in the Division I playoffs.

Valencia began the season by extending Westlake in a tough five-game loss, then rebounded to win the very competitive San Diego Francis Parker tournament by going 7-0 and downing several top Division I teams, including Long Beach Wilson. The Bruins were ousted by Loyola in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section playoffs.

Not counting tournament results at Goleta Dos Pueblos and Redondo, the Vikings have dropped only two games since losing to Westlake. Their offense is scoring at a 54% clip and the team is getting side-outs two-thirds of the time.

“We would be in the top four in Division I,” Coach Mark Knudsen said. “Beyond that we would have to see what would happen.”

The Vikings play in a lower division based on the Southern Section’s “competitive equity” rule, which takes into consideration the strength of each league. A section spokesman said the Foothill League is not considered as formidable as leagues such as the Sunset or Sea View, which produced Division I semifinalists Fountain Valley and Irvine Woodbridge.

Nevertheless, Valencia has its supporters.

“If they can take a team that’s in the final four to a tough five games like they did, they deserve to be in the division,” Westlake Coach Doug Magorien said.

Loyola Coach Michael Boehle agrees.

“They’d be a top-five team,” he said. “Their kids are hard workers. They’re not a powerful team, but they get the job done. They kind of remind me of an Orange County school. They put their mind to defense and play great ball control. They would be an added plus for our area and good for our division.”

Valencia opposite Davey Rowley, who intends to go to UC San Diego, suggested that the Southern Section allow good teams to play up by taking a page out of the system that has been in place in international soccer leagues for years.

“The first couple of teams from Division II each year should be able to move up to Division I and try that different level to see how they do,” he said. “Against Division I teams this year, those were some of our best matches. We showed that we belonged in Division I.”

Setter Ryan Dean, who plans to go to MIT, said that moving back and forth between Division I and Division II competition during the regular season presented “a different mind-set.”

“You have to look forward to playing Westlake and Loyola in tournaments, and we didn’t get an opportunity to beat them like we wanted. But Division II still has some very good teams. We just want to win [a section title] and this gives us a good chance to do that.”

UCLA-bound Tony Ker, the most valuable player at the Francis Parker tournament, said he knows the Vikings can compete with Division I teams. But in the long run, he’s not so sure it would be a good idea.

“We have 12 seniors and in the end we all want to be able to say we won the last game we played in,” he said.

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Section Championships

Today’s championship schedule for the CIF southern Section boys’ volleyball playoffs at Cypress College:

* Division III: Estancia (27-6) vs. Orange Lutheran (16-2), 1 p.m., Gymnasium II.

* Division V: Pasadena Poly (22-0) vs. Windward (20-3), 1:30 p.m., Gymnasium I.

* Division II: Valencia (28-2) vs. Santa Barbara (17-9), 4 p.m., Gymnasium II.

* Division IV: Mayfair (24-3) vs. Brentwood (16-1), 4:30 p.m., Gymnasium I.

* Division I: Loyola (21-2) vs. Westlake (25-1), 7 p.m., Gymnasium II.

Tickets: $9 General admission. $5 children.

Information: www.cifss.org