Prep roundup: Buchanan, Clovis North win regional boys volleyball openers

Buchanan and Clovis North highs of the Tri-River Athletic Conference won Southern California Regional boys volleyball openers on the road Tuesday night.

Taj Sangha contributed 43 assists and six digs, and Donovan Mitchell had 22 kills and seven digs as fifth-seeded Buchanan throttled No. 4 Torrey Pines-La Jolla 3-0 in Division I.

Ryan Smith and Patrick Gasman teamed for 21 kills as the 31-6 Bears won 25-22, 26-24, 25-20 while advancing to a Thursday semifinal at No. 1 Huntington Beach (37-0), which is also top-ranked nationally and hasn’t lost in 102 matches in three seasons.

Buchanan, the two-year reigning Central Section D-I champion, is ranked No. 13 in the state and No. 14 nationally. The Bears won the SoCal Regional title in 2011.

Fifth-seeded Clovis North won a fifth set to escape 3-2 at No. 4 Cathedral Catholic-San Diego in D-II (25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-13).

The Broncos placed second to Buchanan in the section D-I final but were then dropped in the SoCal D-II in Sunday’s seedings. They’ll play at top-seeded Corona del Mar-Newport Beach Thursday.

Loeprich has dislocated kneecap

Buchanan senior Conner Loeprich dislocated a kneecap in the Bears’ immediate postgame celebration following a 15-1 win over Clovis on Saturday night for the section D-I championship at Visalia’s Rawhide Ballpark.

The Saint Mary’s-bound right-hander had just pitched a three-hitter to complete a 9-0 season when he leaped in joy and landed akwardly before finding himself at the bottom of a dogpile near the mound.

“He’ll have an MRI this week,” Buchanan athletic director James Gambrell said. “We don’t think there is any ligament damage.”

CW, Bullard boys lose in tennis

Sixth-seeded Clovis West and No. 10 Bullard were eliminated in the first round of the SoCal Regional boys tennis playoffs.

Clovis West was swept in four singles matches in a 4-3 loss to No. San Clemente. It was 3-2 Tritons when they clinched it with Billy Whitaker’s 7-5, 6-5 win over Jacub Huls in No. 2 singles.

The 20-5 Golden Eagles — champions of the Tri-River Athletic Conference and the section’s D-I — delivered doubles wins by teams of Addison Weil and Sean Lindenau, Jacob Vander Beek and Taka Shin, and Gabriel Beshoy and Justin Baubuta.

Bullard (20-4) lost 7-0 at No. 5 San Marino.

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: Buchanan, Clovis North win regional boys volleyball openers."