Boys' volleyball: Chatsworth's loss leaves City title up for grabs

Well, well... the City Section playoffs just got a lot more interesting, didn't they?

With top-seeded Chatsworth's stunning five-game defeat at the hands of 16th-seeded Birmingham on Tuesday night, it's clear that all of the eight remaining teams have legitimate shots to win the section title this season. In fact, the upper division nearly lost both of its top two seeded teams before the quarterfinals, as No. 2 Palisades survived a five-game scare of its own from No. 18 Marshall.

If you count No. 11 Grant ousting No. 5 Van Nuys, that's two major upsets and another major upset barely averted in the second round. So who is the new favorite to be crowned champion on May 17 at Cal State Northridge?

Well, if you go by seeding its Palisades. However, after watching the Dolphins go tooth-and-nail with an undersized but scrappy Marshall squad, I'm thinking Granada Hills might be the team to beat. The two-time defending champion Highlanders just won their 12th consecutive playoff match in impressive fashion. And don't forget they handed Chatsworth its only regular season loss, too.

To this point the West Valley League has represented well, with four teams making the elite eight. Two of them, giant-slayer Birmingham and third-place El Camino Real, play each other Thursday. The other three quarterfinals offer equally compelling matchups: Venice-Sylmar, Grant-Granada Hills and Taft-Palisades.

Like many sports, volleyball is all about momentum and Granada Hills seems to have it right now. As we learned on Tuesday, however, anything can happen. I can't wait to see how the draw shakes out.

-- Steve Galluzzo