Wolverines Try to Restate Case

NORTH HOLLYWOOD — They are defending state champions.

And the scoreboard at their home gym showed a season-opening nonleague victory over Royal High, 15-5, 15-11, 15-7.

But it wasn’t a thrilling Thursday for the Harvard-Westlake girls’ volleyball team.

Perhaps realizing that scoreboards sometimes fib, they assembled around Coach Jess Quiroz and heard that a repeat championship will take some effort.

“I’m not happy,” said Quiroz, whose Wolverines won State Division III and Southern Section Division II titles last year. “We’re at the point that this is OK and that is OK, but it’s too early in the season for that. I’m not saying we’re pressing the panic button, but we need to work harder.”

Harvard-Westlake’s middle attack was lacking, as was its passing and setting.

“A lot of people are saying we should feel pressure from last year,” said Christine Bohle, who had 11 kills for Harvard-Westlake. “I don’t think we feel that way. We’re a completely different team.”

On Wednesday they out-did Santa Barbara, Westlake and Thousand Oaks in preseason scrimmages.

On Thursday, the Wolverines (1-0) were sloppy, but Bohle helped them overcome their problems.

“She puts some smoke on the ball,” said Royal Coach Bob Ferguson, whose Highlanders were swept by the Wolverines for the second straight season.

Royal’s Carrie Swartz had 11 kills, but had others blunted. Sandra Aken had 12 digs for the Wolverines.

“We hit some balls that, against most teams, would go down,” Ferguson said. “But they got dug.”