CHATTER: AGOURA'S GRAF PICKS USC.

Byline: -- Erik Boal

Kevin Graf didn't expect to receive his dream offer to play football at USC so soon.

But it didn't take Agoura's junior offensive lineman more than a few seconds Friday to give his verbal commitment to the Trojans.

Graf became the third member of his family to attend USC, following his father, Alan, and older brother, Derek, who both played for the Trojans.

A three-year varsity athlete, the 6-foot-6, 305-poind Graf transferred to Agoura last season after competing at Oaks Christian of Westlake Village as a freshman.

Graf, who also considered Oregon and Mississippi, is already the fourth commitment USC has landed in the Class of 2009.

Local teams look to make statement in Fresno

Several area cross country teams will get a preview of the state-meet course today at Woodward Park in Fresno at the 29th annual Clovis Invitational.

Highlighting the girls' seeded race will be defending champion Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta, which is coming off an impressive showing last weekend at its own Kenny Staub/John Barnes Invitational at C.V. Park.

The Falcons, who prevailed by one point last season over Davis High, will have to contend with a field that features fellow state powers Carondelet of Concord, Ponderosa of Shingle Springs, Foothill of Santa Ana and Buchanan of Clovis.

C.V. senior Claire Collison, who won the Staub/Barnes meet, will look to improve on a 10th-place finish at last year's meet. Rachel Lange, second last weekend, will try to duplicate her third-place effort last season on the 5,000-meter Woodward Park layout.

Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, Royal of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks are also scheduled to run in the girls' seeded race, which won't feature Saugus, the state's top-ranked team.

The Centurions are scheduled to only field a partial squad, which will compete in the girls' XL division race earlier in the day.

Burbank, C.V., Lancaster, Saugus, Thousand Oaks and defending-champion Royal are scheduled to compete in the boys' seeded race, which features six state-ranked teams.

Highland of Palmdale's Jeremy Acosta, which captured the individual title at the Barnes/Staub meet, headlines the field in the boys' XL division race.

Verdugo Hills still trying to survive in five

There have been several sleepless nights during the past week for Verdugo Hills of Tujunga girls' volleyball coach Will Reinhart.

For the second time in eight days, the undersized Dons had a match point in a contest against a Sunset Six League title contender, only to let the opportunity slip away in a disappointing five-game loss Monday at Grant of Van Nuys.

"When you have opportunities in life, you've got to seize them," said Reinhart, whose team reached the City quarterfinals last season. "I'm trying desperately to overachieve with the talent I have. It's a chess game and I'm playing with pawns and they're playing with queens. I know they're trying as hard as they can, but the competitor in me finds it hard to deal with."

Verdugo Hills (3-4, 2-2) held a 14-13 lead in the fifth game against defending-champion Grant, but surrendered the final three points as the Lancers (7-0, 4-0) emerged with the victory. In a Sept. 24 match against visiting Van Nuys, the Dons held three match points in the fourth game.

"It was there and we let them off the hook," Reinhart said. "It's tough to lose those anytime it happens, but to lose two like that is pretty demoralizing. The fact that we pushed those teams to five and had them on the brink of elimination and then can't close the deal, it's disappointing."

Verdugo Hills, which rebounded Thursday to sweep North Hollywood, has rematches with Van Nuys on Oct. 11 and Grant on Oct. 18.

Goodman is good news for Van Nuys athletics

Paulina Goodman led the Van Nuys girls' cross country team to a Sunset Six League victory Thursday over Grant of Van Nuys.

But the senior's athletic schedule was far from complete this week.

Goodman, who boasts nearly a straight-A average, resumed her duties Friday night as placekicker for the Wolves in a league game against North Hollywood.

The four-sport athlete, who plays soccer in the winter and runs track in the spring, has already kicked an extra point for Van Nuys in a 12-7 loss Sept.14 against Panorama.

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