CITY SECTION BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Taft Thwarts Stubborn Kennedy

After sweeping the Kennedy High boys’ volleyball team in a Northwest Valley Conference match earlier in the season, second-ranked Taft might have entered its City Section 4-A Division first-round match against the visiting Golden Cougars on Tuesday night a trifle overconfident.

“I think they surprised us a little bit,” Taft Coach Doug Magorien said. “They were a lot tougher this time. They came to play.”

The Toreadors posted a 15-7, 15-11, 15-13 victory but had to rally from a seven-point deficit in the second game. After trailing, 7-0, Taft (13-4) called a timeout to regroup and returned to the floor to build a 9-7 advantage.

“There was a little bit of lackadaisical play,” Magorien said of Taft’s second-game lapse.

Aubry Miller led the Toreadors, the defending 4-A champions, with 18 kills and teammate Aman Catalan added 15 and three blocks. Ryan Cooper contributed 19 digs.

In other matches:

Granada Hills d. Bell, 15-7, 15-5, 15-5--Third-seeded Granada Hills pummeled visiting Bell in a 4-A match that lasted only an hour.

Randy Eason and Brian Michler led Granada Hills (13-1) with 10 kills each.

Chatsworth d. Carson, 15-5, 15-5, 15-6--Gene Urcan had 10 kills and Yoshi Minagawa nailed five service aces for fourth-seeded Chatsworth, last year’s 4-A runner-up, against the visiting Colts.

Cleveland d. Narbonne, 7-15, 12-15, 15-5, 15-1, 15-6--Loc Tran had 28 kills to lead the Cavaliers (7-7), seeded 11th, to a come-from-behind upset of sixth-seeded Narbonne (12-1) in a 4-A match at Narbonne.

Lance Johnson had 15 solo blocks and Alex Austin added 11 for Cleveland.

Birmingham d. Garfield, 15-8, 15-7, 15-3--Birmingham’s Stan Yu recorded 10 kills and teammate Alex Diaz added nine kills and four service aces in a 3-A match at Birmingham (14-1). Garfield finished 6-9.

Van Nuys d. Huntington Park, 15-5, 15-8, 15-9--Van Nuys easily knocked off sixth-seeded Huntington Park in a 3-A match at Huntington Park.

Brad Schultz led Van Nuys (10-4) with 18 kills and 11 blocks, and Bert Hirayama had 10 kills.