Volleyball squads looking to hold serve in the playoffs
OCHS earns top seed; Westlake's draw is brutal
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

READY TO GO- Thousand Oaks' Cyrus Kiani, left, prepares to hit the ball toward Westlake defenders Ian Cafferty and Jake Kneller during a match earlier this season. Michael Deamer is on the other side of the net for the Lancers. Playoff action gets underway Friday night at various locations.

Spring is slowly turning to summer, which means it's time for high school volleyball playoffs to begin. Starting tomorrow, many area teams will be competing for a chance to take part in the CIFSouthern Section championships on May 26 at Cerritos College.

One team's path to the title game, however, may be tougher than expected.

Although Westlake High shared the Marmonte League championship with Thousand Oaks, the Warriors lost a coin flip to the Lancers and were given the league's No. 2 seed.

Westlake matches up at home against Chaminade Friday night, but if they win, the Warriors will likely play the No. 1 overall seed in the Division I bracket, Mira Costa, in the second round.

"I always feel we are misrepresented in CIF and I'm not sure why," Westlake head coach Doug Magorien said. "That being said, we were in charge of our own destiny, and we did poorly in some key tournaments in the end that might have helped us."

WHS finished with a 20-4 overall record and will need solid play from seniors Dan McKernan and Matt Ramos to get past Chaminade and/or Mira Costa.

"Dan has been a great player for us this year," Magorien said. "His play was down a little while ago, but in the past week he has brought it back up. And Matt is the glue of this team. He makes everyone else on the team better, and if he was a little taller and bigger, he would be one of the most recruited players in the county."

The Warriors will also need senior Jordan Craig, junior Jake Tracy and sophomores Jake Kneller and Scott Kevorken to contribute, the coach said.

"We got a tough seed, but to win it all we have to beat everyone sooner or later," Magorien said.

Thousand Oaks will host Los Alamitos Friday night.

Yariv Lerner's squad will need senior Trevor Van Uden, as well as Michael Taxter, Cyrus Kiani and Michael Deamer, to play well to advance.

Deamer is one of the best setters in the county, proving it with 38 assists against Westlake in April.

In the Division IV bracket, Oaks Christian will once again be the team to beat after earning the No. 1 overall seed and winning the Tri-Valley League championship.

"This team has been eager all year for the playoffs after winning the championship the last two years," head coach George Hees said. "They now want a third championship real bad."

The top seed gives the Lions a bye in the first round. The team will have plenty of time to practice before it plays the winner of Crossroads High vs. Desert Christian on Tuesday.

"The team really wants to play now, but at the same time the bye really sets us up a lot," Hees said. "Obviously we get past the first round, but it also means that we get a home game later in the playoffs."

OCHS is led by senior Ryan Schiedermayer and junior Dominic Denham.

"Dominic brings a fire to the court every time he plays," Hees said. "I have never seen anyone work harder in practice and in games than Dominic.

"Ryan, as a first-time captain, has also done a great job and has stepped up this season as a leader. He has also been a lot more consistent as a setter."

As for the Lions' playoff opponent, Hees said he's focusing on his own team rather than who they are playing.

"We will send someone out to watch the game between Crossroads and Desert Christian, but I think we need to focus more on ourselves," Hees said. "If we take care of our side of the court, we should be all right."

Oaks Christian took care of its only real competition in the TriValley League this year, Oak Park, by beating the Eagles twice during TVL play.

Oak Park's got the No. 2 spot out of the TriValley and will begin its postseason tomorrow night at home against El Segundo.

Oak Park head coach Patrick Quinn said his team should've received a better ranking than the No. 8 overall seed.

"It's very political," Quinn said. "All the coaches that serve on the advisory board have their teams ranked ahead of us. I tried making a call to the advisory board earlier in the year to raise our stock, but I never got a call back. There's nothing we can do about it except go out and beat the other teams ranked ahead of us."

Oak Park's top five players consist of senior outside hitter Killian Doheny and juniors Adam Quinn, Jared Furlong, Stephen Thompson and Brendan Keane.

Coach Quinn said the time is now to win a championship.

"We're not trying to just gain playoff experience; we have enough talent to win it all now," Quinn said. "This year I don't believe we have been beaten by anyone; we have only beaten ourselves. We have been in every game, and if we can keep the serving errors down, we should be okay."

In the Division V bracket, Viewpoint earned a bye in the first round after getting the No. 1 overall seed. The Patriots will await the winner of the game between Cate and Pacific Hills. Viewpoint plays the winner Tuesday at home.

Hillcrest Christian/Thousand Oaks earned a No. 3 seed out of the Westside Division and will play on the road tomorrow against St. Bernard, the Camino Real League's No. 1 seed.

Each game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.