Quartz Hill Meeting Lofty Goals

Things are looking up for Coach Jason Peplinski at Quartz Hill High.

Actually, the 5-foot-9 Peplinski is almost always looking up at his team, specifically 6-10 middle blockers Sahael Almuallem and Jared Corpening.

The hard-hitting Corpening, a transfer from Highland, and the intellectual Almuallem, one of the top students in the junior class, have helped Quartz Hill to a 9-0 record.

Not only do they attack with power--who’s going to stop a couple guys who are a couple inches under 7 feet?--but they block with authority.

“Balls just don’t come back at us,” Peplinski said. “Sahael and Jared clamp everything down.”

The best news for Peplinski? Almuallem and Corpening are juniors.

Not that more firepower is needed this season, but Brandan Butchart, a 6-4 senior outside hitter, is another weapon for the Rebels, who are drawing some comparisons to Royal and Harvard-Westlake, teams with rich volleyball tradition.

But the Rebels, ranked No. 3 in the region by The Times, have yet to catch the eye of all of Southern California and are not ranked in the Southern Section Division I poll.

Quartz Hill won the smaller Foothill and Ventura tournaments, but has not defeated any top-notch teams.

The Rebels will get a chance to prove their worth at the Tournament of Champions on Saturday at Cal State Northridge. The day-long tournament features several strong teams from outside the region.

“We can’t sit out here and demand respect and attention when we haven’t had a chance to beat anybody,” Almuallem said. “We can’t talk any trash or get real confident yet.”

Quartz Hill could take another step toward respectability with a victory over Highland (6-0), ranked No. 4 in the region, in a Golden League match tonight at Quartz Hill.

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A rarity: Coach Bill Schnobrich is pursuing his third Alpha League title this year.

Schnobrich, who guided Village Christian to league titles in girls’ volleyball and boys’ soccer, has the boys’ volleyball team pointed in the right direction.

Behind Ken Benesh, sophomore opposite hitter and younger brother of girls’ volleyball standout Errin Benesh, the Crusaders (11-3) are favored to win the league title.

Too bad Schnobrich doesn’t receive any bonuses based on league titles.

“I should have negotiated that into my contract,” said Schnobrich, who gets serious when talking about his players.

“It just so happens that I have tremendous athletes in every sport to help me out,” he said. “I knew I had the athletes to do it, but it’s been kind of fun.”

Schnobrich a savvy assistant, Steve Levoe, who was the coach for the Crusaders when they advanced to the 1995 Division III championship match.

“He’s a real mentor-type to me,” Schnobrich said of Levoe. “To get him in the gym on a daily basis is a big bonus.”