Everywhere you looked, there were Venice High sports teams winning this week. Most of the outdoor teams were busy making up games missed due to rain, while the volleyball team appears to be getting on track. Let's take a closer look:
Baseball
The Gondoliers had a busy week, playing three Western League games. In what could be a sign of good things to come for Venice fans, the team won all three.
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Venice opened league with a 4-3 win against Fairfax on Monday. Despite the win, coach Walter Fujita didn’t like much of what he saw.
“Quite frankly, I thought we played pretty sloppy," Fujita said. "We missed a couple of easy pop ups and made some silly errors. We were lucky to get out with a win.”
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It certainly looked like the Gondoliers worked out the kinks the next time out, as they defeated University 5-2 on Wednesday before completing a sweep of Fairfax with a 3-2 victory Thursday. Venice must now prepare for a huge two-game series next week when they take on defending champion Palisades, which is 4-0 so far in league.
Softball
After two weeks of no games due to rain, the Gondoliers finally took the field on Thursday and beat Fairfax 13-9. In previous games, the team had one problem in particular that coach Jessica Ruiz said it was working on.
“We’ve had some trouble starting out well," she said. "Even in our 15-4 win over LACES, we started off slow and it took us awhile to adjust to the pitching.”
It appears the time off served Venice well, as it scored eight runs in the first two innings to make a Fairfax comeback daunting. The win moved the Gondoliers to 2-0 in the Western League and kept them in contention for the Western League title.
Volleyball
The Gondoliers completed the first round of Western League play this week by splitting matches with league frontrunner Palisades and Hamilton. Venice got swept by the Dolphins 3-0 on Monday but bounced back to defeat Hamilton 3-1 on Wednesday to improve to 3-3 in league.
“Now we have seen everyone once so we know what to expect," Coach Allen Hunt said. "I definitely think that every game from here on out is winnable, with the exception of maybe Palisades. But if we can keep cutting down on our mistakes, I like our chances in the second half of league."
The Gondoliers will have revenge on their minds Wednesday when they take on Fairfax, which beat them in four sets earlier in the season.
Tennis
The boys team has split its last two matches after having two weeks of rainouts. The Gondoliers defeated University 5-2 last week in a match rescheduled due to weather. In its next match, Venice lost 7-0 to defending City champion Palisades, a team that coach Randy Chew had high praise for.
“There’s no question that they are the best team in the league and probably in the City," Chew said. "They have something like 10 ranked players and we don’t have any. They're just on another level.”
Unfortunately for Chew and his kids, they have another date with the powerhouse Palisades squad on Tuesday at 2:30.
Swimming and Diving
The boys and girls swimming and diving teams continue to lap the competition, both decisively defeating Hamilton. The boys beat the Yankees 112-47 while the girls won 114-44. The Gondoliers competed in the Beverly Hills Invitational Wednesday through Friday. Check back next week for the results from what is traditionally one of the best meets of the year.
Animo Venice
Over at Animo Venice Charter High, the baseball team has continued its stellar play, improving to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Crosstown League. On Wednesday, the Pirates easily defeated Central City Value, 11-2. They have three league games next week, starting with a 3 p.m. Monday game against Port of Los Angeles at the Culver Marine Little League complex.
