A BANNER NIGHT FOR TAFT IN SWEEP TAFT 3, JEFFERSON 0.Byline: Daily News A freshly made banner, with numbers counting from one through 15, hangs in the Taft High of Woodland Hills gym. The banner serves as a checklist for how many postseason games the Toreadors need to claim their first City title, a reminder that this year's Taft players are driving for more than Toreadors of recent years. A season after being eliminated in the second round, Taft began its playoff play·off also play-off n. Sports 1. A final game or series of games played to break a tie. 2. A series of games played to determine a championship. Noun 1. run Thursday with a dominating 25-10, 25-7, 25-2 victory over visiting Jefferson. The second-seeded Toreadors needed just 49 minutes to complete the route. ``All through the summer, we talked about this,'' Taft senior outside hitter Jessica Duran said. ``We wanted to do as well as we could so we could get the No. 2 seed for playoffs and get home court all the way -we're undefeated at home- so we'd have the best chance to get to the final. We want that title. We need that (championship) banner up there.'' The Toreadors (27-7) made a convincing case for their potential to challenge top-ranked and defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del título defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre San Pedro for the title as they went undefeated en route to the West Valley League title. They also claimed the championship at the recent Gabrielino tournament and finished third at last weekend's Fresno tournament. Overmatched and undersized undersized see dwarfism, runt. Jefferson (9-5) never led Thursday, and in the third game saw Taft score 22 consecutive points. ``Last year we were really inexperienced in·ex·pe·ri·ence n. 1. Lack of experience. 2. Lack of the knowledge gained from experience. in ,'' said Taft coach Arman Mercado For the hispanic surname "Mercado", please see de Mercado. Mercado first originated in Spain. In English it means 'market'. Is the last name of the 'Great' Fifa Soccer player Eswold. , who calls this year's team the best in his six seasons at the helm. ``Last year we only had two really great player. ...This year they've developed as a group. They're a team. And they're taller. It's always nice when most of the players are taller than the coach.'' Newcomers Savannah Savannah, city, United States Savannah, city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. and Kameron Potter fit in well with a lineup anchored by players such as Duran, junior setter setter: see sporting dog. setter Any of three breeds derived from a medieval hunting dog that would set (lie down) when it found birds so that it and the birds could be covered with a net. Setters have long hair on the ears, chest, legs, and tail. Terry Saltani and sophomore middle blocker Samantha Potter. ``We so balanced now,'' Duran said. Their team-first approach is evident in the way Toreadores have stopped keeping player statistics. ``Those are the only numbers we care about now,'' Mercado said, as he pointed to his players atop the bleachers crossing off the first three numbers on their checklist. The Toreadors hope to cross off three more numbers Monday when they play a second-round match. |
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