Sports
Agoura's Girls' Volleyball Team To Take On Top-Seeded Harvard-Westlake In Playoffs
The Chargers rallied to make the playoffs, and tonight they're on the road against the high-powered Wolverines of Studio City.
The Agoura High girls' volleyball team entered the season with the daunting task of trying to reach the postseason a year after going winless in the Marmonte League. The Chargers accomplished that difficult feat and now face an even bigger challenge: taking on the division's top-seeded team.
Agoura will open the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs at 7 p.m. at No. 1 Harvard-Westlake in Studio City.
The Chargers (11-14) are riding a late-season surge that includes winning three matches in two days last week after they climbed into part of a four-way tie for the Marmonte League's final playoff berth.
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Agoura upset Moorpark—a team that had swept the Chargers earlier in the season—on the final day of the regular season to help set up a complicated finish.
Moorpark and Simi Valley entered Thursday, tied for fourth place and the league's last automatic playoff berth, holding a one-game advantage in the standings over Agoura and Newbury Park.
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When Agoura and Newbury Park won, while Moorpark and Simi Valley lost, the teams found themselves having to play a four-team tiebreaker Friday at Thousand Oaks.
Agoura opened Friday's league playoff with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 win against Newbury Park, then beat Simi Valley 25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-6 to secure a spot in the Southern Section playoffs. The victories also gave the Chargers six league victories in the last month after beating only winless Calabasas during the first half of league.
Among the Chargers' leaders are veteran 6-foot middle blockers Nicole LaFountaine and Jaclyn Nadler. Freshman Katie Sato and transfer Elizabeth Kennerly are among the newcomers who have infused talent into this year's turnaround.
The Chargers will attempt to overcome a Harvard-Westlake lineup that has won 15 of its last 16 matches and is coming off an undefeated run through the Mission League for a fifth consecutive league title. The perennial power Wolverines (24-2), who claimed their last section title in 2007, boast 11 seniors.
Cal-bound Christina Higgins leads the deep lineup in kills and blocks. Others to watch include setter Kellie Barnum and Anne Cohen.
The winner of tonight's match advances to Thursday's second round against the winner of the Trabuco Hills-Lakewood matchup.
