PREP PLAYOFF PREVIEW: POSTSEASON STORIES START NEW CHAPTERS.

Byline: Lee Barnathan and Heather Gripp Staff Writers

While the final weekend of the high school football season begins tonight, several other sports continue their postseason travels.

In Southern Section girls' volleyball, the second round begins for the three surviving large schools (Royal, Hart and Westlake) and for five small ones (Viewpoint, Desert Christian of Lancaster, Newbury Park Adventist, Hillcrest Christian of Thousand Oaks and Santa Clarita Christian).

Royal and Westlake shared the Marmonte League title, but many thought the league was down this year, so Royal's match at Buena and Westlake's home contest with Ramona could help prove or disprove that sentiment. Hart breezed through the Foothill League, which no one considered strong. A match at Newport Harbor awaits.

For 10 schools whose enrollments fall in the middle, the playoffs begin tonight and include several interesting storylines. They include:

--Can Harvard-Westlake, top-seeded in Division III-AA, meet its expectations and win not just a Southern Section title but a state title, too?

--Can La Canada, seeded fourth in the same division, finally beat Harvard-Westlake in the playoffs?

--Can La Reina, seeded third in Division IV-AA, finally win a section title? The Regents are 22-0 but have suffered through several tough losses, including last season to Whitney. But good news: Whitney is in the other half of the bracket.

--Can Village Christian live up to its No. 3 seeding in Division IV-A?

WATER POLO 

Few teams were happier than the Harvard-Westlake of Studio City boys' water polo team about the Southern Section's decision to exclude water polo from divisional realignment based on enrollment.

The decision meant the Wolverines were allowed to stay in the highly competitive Division I. They didn't want to settle for a title in any other division and figured this would be their best chance to win their first championship since 1991.

Harvard-Westlake, along with Mission League rivals Loyola of Los Angeles and Crespi of Encino, open Division I playoffs today. Five local teams, led by No. 1 seed La Canada, begin Division III playoffs today. Division IV and IV playoffs start Friday.

Harvard-Westlake is unseeded and would have to overcome perennial nemesis and second-seeded Long Beach Wilson in the semifinals just to get a shot at the title. The Wolverines hope to get there behind the play of goalkeeper Luppe Luppen and a balanced offense that includes consistent contributions from seniors Jim Bloomingdale, Jim Singleton, Eric Townsend and Will Noll.

The best chance of a local advancing to a final is in Division III, though. A late-season surge helped defending champion La Canada earn the top seed and could face a rematch of last year's championship game if No. 3 Crescenta Valley continues the solid play that led to the Falcons' ninth consecutive Pacific League title.

Crescenta Valley opens at home against El Segundo of the Bay League and La Canada plays host to Montebello, the third-place representative from the Almont League. Hoover of Glendale became the third local team in La Canada's half of the bracket when the Tornadoes won Tuesday's wild-card game against San Marino, but to advance again, Hoover must overcome No. 4 Upland.

TENNIS

The playoffs were supposed to present more of a challenge for the Granada Hills girls' tennis team, but the Highlanders (14-0) breezed through their first-round match against Fremont, losing just two games.

Eight-seeded Verdugo Hills is the next team to try to take the first set of the season from the defending City champions when the two teams play today at Granada Hills in a 1 p.m. quarterfinal match. Other locals Eagle Rock, Kennedy and San Fernando also remain alive in the City playoffs.

The first round of Southern Section team playoffs are also today, with six local teams trying to knock off defending Division IV champion Calabasas.

Harvard-Westlake entered the season appearing to be the biggest threat to the Coyotes after dropping from Division III, where the Wolverines won a championship last year, but Chaminade of West Hills beat third-seeded Harvard-Westlake during the regular season and is among those teams not even seeded in the deep Division IV field. Chaminade faces Oak Park at the Warner Tennis Center while Harvard-Westlake plays host to La Canada and Calabasas plays host to Louisville for berths in Saturday's second round.

Palmdale failed to advance past Tuesday's Division II wild-card round, but five local teams remain in the field. Canyon has the toughest draw as the Cowboys travel to No. 1 seed Beverly Hills, but the Foothill League runners-up have had a season full of surprises and shouldn't be counted out as they continue their best season since 1982.

``I feel pretty good,'' Canyon coach Josh Stimac said. ``Our strength this year is we didn't really rely on any one person.''