Healthy Nelson Enables Alemany to Sweep Opener

Richard Nelson returned to the lineup for Alemany High on Friday night and helped the Indians sweep their Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoff opener.

Nelson, a UCLA-bound setter and outside hitter, had 16 kills to lead Alemany to a 15-8, 15-9, 15-10 Division II victory over host Beverly Hills.

It was the first match in four weeks for Nelson, who had been sidelined because of a broken finger.

Joe Chavez had 11 kills and nine digs for Alemany.

Chris Gagan had 17 kills for Beverly Hills (13-3).

In other Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoff openers:

Highland def. Long Beach Jordan, 15-6, 15-3, 15-13--Middle blocker Mike Kennedy had four blocks and four kills in the third game to help host Highland close out the Division I match.

Rick Haight had five of his team-high 14 kills in the third game for Highland (14-4), and Adam Green led the Bulldogs with 11 digs.

Long Beach Jordan finished 10-6.

Harvard-Westlake def. Cerritos, 15-1, 15-2, 15-6--Bill Strickland had 14 kills, John Katz added eight and the No. 5-seeded Wolverines (14-3) prevailed in a Division I match at Cerritos.

Royal def. Lancaster 15-9, 15-4, 15-3--Cam Dickson had 13 kills, Ryan Moberly added 12 and Matt Janousek had 44 assists for the Highlanders (24-0) in a Division I victory at Royal.

Canyon def. Simi Valley, 15-7, 15-5, 15-3--Gideon Gibson had 13 kills and seven blocks for host Canyon in a Division I match. Scott Ricks had 14 kills and six blocks for Canyon (12-3).

Dustin Pierson led Simi Valley (11-5) with eight kills.

Loyola def. Thousand Oaks, 15-1, 15-5, 15-8--Mark Koval had six kills for Thousand Oaks (12-6) in a Division I match at Loyola.

Calabasas def. Culver City, 11-15, 15-13, 15-13, 3-15, 15-8--Stephen McKeown had 11 kills in the fifth game and scored an ace on a jump serve for the final point in a Division II match at Culver City.

McKeown finished with 38 kills, 12 digs and four aces during Calabasas’ first-ever playoff victory.

Andrew MacCalla had 23 kills for Calabasas (9-9).

Campbell Hall d. Santa Maria St. Joseph, 15-17, 7-15, 16-14, 15-9, 15-12--Cameron Klippsten had 19 kills for Campbell Hall (14-3) in a Division III match at St. Joseph.

Campbell Hall trailed, 13-9, in the third game, but Greg Drobnik had four kills and a block to help the Vikings rally to win the game.

Jason Williams had 23 kills for St. Joseph (16-5).

Campbell Hall will play St. Monica on Tuesday at a site to be determined by coin flip.

BOYS’ TENNIS

Glendale 17, Palmdale 1--Glendale’s No. 1 singles player, Ray Hong, swept three matches to improve to 51-9 this season, and the Dynamiters won all nine singles sets in a Division I wild-card match at Palmdale.

Graham Nesas, playing at No. 2 singles for Glendale (12-8), lost only four games in three matches, and John Sim, the Dynamiters’ No. 3 player, lost only five games in three sets.