CITY SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP: CHATSWORTH SETS IT STRAIGHT IN CITY DEFENDING CHAMP TAFT SWEPT FOR TITLE CHATSWORTH 3, TAFT 0.

Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer

Chatsworth remembers the feeling. Whether it was sitting at Cal State Northridge last season watching Taft of Woodland Hills win its third consecutive City Section boys' volleyball championship, or hearing friends talk about it or reading about it the next day, the Chancellors remember.

Chatsworth thought it was the best, only to have Taft show how untrue that was.

On Friday at CSUN, a year later, Chatsworth showed it learned its lesson.

The top-seeded Chancellors dethroned the three-time defending champions 15-5, 15-4, 15-2 in 62 minutes to win their first City title since 1989 and fourth in school history.

``I told you (Wednesday), we were going to come out and prove we're the best team in the City,'' said senior hitter Paul George, who was virtually unstoppable in getting a match-high 14 kills. ``We were ready to take revenge for the disappointing loss last year.''

That loss came in the semifinals. Chatsworth (14-0) had played the entire season with an arrogance and swagger that told teams not to mess with it or suffer the consequences. Taft didn't listen and beat the Chancellors all three times they played. It was in those matches Chatsworth displayed its main weakness: not being able to regroup when mistakes occurred.

``After bad passes, or a hit that went into the net, we'd go into a downward spiral,'' said senior middle blocker Matt Cornell, who had 11 kills and five stuff blocks Friday. ``We didn't stay positive, yelling at people about what to do instead of doing what we needed to do.''

In the offseason, George said, the five returning players and coach Greg Saltzberg discussed how they would learn from their mistakes. They collectively decided to let their playing do their talking. No arrogance. No bravado. Just good, old-fashioned hard work and commitment to winning the City title.

This season, the Chancellors didn't lose a game in the West Valley League, although they lost some matches because of the bus strike. But when it came to playing Taft, they didn't hold back.

After a 65-minute sweep in March, George declared his team should be the City favorite, a sentiment backed up by the way the Chancellors swept through the playoffs, giving up more than 10 points just once in four matches, including Friday.

``Chatsworth wanted it more,'' Taft coach Arman Mercado said. ``We can tell by the way Chatsworth played. They were on the floor all day, and their blocked showed up.

``I told our guys all year: We're going to win by passing, blocking and serving, and Chatsworth did all three. I'm surprised we scored some points.''

Saltzberg readily agreed. He said during the playoffs, team trainer Mike Nash, who with Saltzberg played on Chatsworth's 1990 City runner-up team, told Saltzberg: ``You and I played very good volleyball. We were very good. But there's no doubt in my mind your team now would beat our team.''

``That's a high compliment,'' Saltzberg said.

That's not to say Taft (10-5) went quietly. The second game lasted 24 minutes, which isn't an unusual length. It's just that whatever Chatsworth wanted to do, it could.

It took away the middle with nine stuff blocks (Taft relied on its middle attack the entire season). It limited senior Joel Rodstein to just three kills and four stuff blocks and junior Josh Zagha to five kills and two blocks. Rodstein wasn't even set until Chatsworth had a 7-2 lead in the first game.

Outside hitter Yaniv Snimon had a team-high eight kills for Taft.

Saltzberg said the game plan was simple: There was no game plan.

``I told them, `You're going to play your game and execute like you've done all year,' '' Saltzberg said. `` `You are the better team.' ''

In the City Invitational final, Marshall defeated Fairfax in four games. The Barristers were once a City 3-A power, winning titles in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Chatsworth players mob the floor after the Chancellors' straight-game victory in the City Section final Friday night.

(2) Chatsworth's Andrew Luu spikes the ball past Taft's Maihan Noorzay (6) during the City Section championship match Friday at CSUN.

(3) Chatsworth's Matthew Cornell hits past the block of Taft's Joel Rodstein (32) during the Chancellors' three-game victory over the defending champs.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News