Roundup: West Ranch wins in sweep, Canyon wins in four to kick off league play
The Valencia High School boys’ volleyball team started off its Foothill League title defense on Tuesday with a road win at Hart High School.
The Vikings (8-3, 1-0) swept the Hawks (0-3, 0-1), 25-19, 26-24, 25-7, at Hart High School in a match that Valencia second-year head coach Brendan Riley said was closer than the sweep would indicate.
“I’d like us to get better at (different things), but I’m glad we got the win in the first league match,” Riley said in a phone interview Tuesday night.
The Vikings won their first league title in nine years in 2024, but Riley thinks his team has some work to do with a few new faces leading the team. Valencia made it to the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship match last year, which saw league rival West Ranch High School win in a sweep.
“We’re a very different team than we were last year,” Riley said.
Valencia did return last year’s Foothill League MVP, senior libero Nathan Willis, while junior Dylan McFatridge and junior Gavan Miranda performed well, Riley said.
McFatridge had nine kills while Miranda had nine kills.
“We had a lot of transition free-ball opportunities, and we were able to run our middles pretty effectively,” Riley said. “And so I was happy about that.”
The Vikings had just finished a 5-1 trip in Las Vegas in tournament play, and Riley thought his team may have let its foot off the gas. He added that it isn’t great to see that, but it can be a learning opportunity for his team.
Hart is seeking its first league win since the 2023 season, one that saw the Hawks capture league and CIF titles.
“Hart has improved a ton,” Riley said. “I know last year they went (winless) in league, but they’re not going to do that this year. They’re gonna win some games for sure. And their defense was good, their serving was good. So, they’re gonna win some games this year.”
The Hawks were led by AJ Casillas’ 11 kills and Jharem Domingo’s nine assists and two aces.
Valencia is set to travel to Saugus High School on Thursday while Hart is set to travel to Granada Hills High School in non-league action on Thursday.
Golden Valley High School had the first league bye on Tuesday and is slated to host Castaic High School on Thursday. Canyon and West Ranch are set to meet at Canyon High School on Thursday in the other league matchup.
Here’s what else happened on the first night of Foothill League boys’ volleyball action:
West Ranch 3, Castaic 0: The West Ranch Wildcats (8-2, 1-0) continued their strong start to the 2025 campaign on Tuesday with a sweep, 25-12, 25-23, 25-14, at home over the Castaic Coyotes (4-2, 0-1).
Noah Douphner had nine kills and three aces for West Ranch. Caleb Sperber added nine kills while Stephen Choi had 13 assists and four aces, and Chris Song had nine digs.
Castaic saw Gabriel Reinwand record eight kills and two blocks.
Canyon 3, Saugus 1: The Canyon Cowboys (5-1, 1-0) took down the Saugus Centurions (4-4, 0-1), 24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21, at home on Tuesday to kick off their league campaign.
Jayden Hayes had 15 kills for Canyon while Jimmy Audette had 35 assists and six aces. James Courtemarsh added four blocks.
Saugus had Max Guardado lead the way with 12 kills. Josh Lane and Luke Bergmann with 10 each had 10 kills.
