The West Ranch Wildcats boys’ volleyball team is flying to begin the 2025 Foothill League campaign.  Traveling to Valencia High School on Thursday to face the Vikings for the first time since beating them in the 2024 CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship, the Wildcats walked away with a four-set win, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20, 25-15, to win the battle of Foothill League unbeatens.  Valencia (10-4, 4-1) had swept the regular-season series in both 2023 and 2024, making this the first West Ranch (11-2, 4-0) win over Valencia, outside of that playoff victory, in three years.  “It feels good,” said West Ranch senior Caleb Sperber, who recorded a career-high 10 kills on Thursday. “They’re always a good team. They were 3-0, too. We were the last two undefeated teams in league. So, it was very important to us that we left the early message in the beginning of league, especially at their home. So, getting this win feels good.”  West Ranch middle hitter Parker Rappoport (16) goes up for a block against Valencia middle blocker Dylan McFatridge (99) during the first set of Thursday’s game at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Sperber came alive late in Thursday’s match, winning multiple points for the Wildcats to fend off a Valencia team that was matching West Ranch through two sets.  West Ranch head coach Brandon Johnson said having guys like Sperber and senior Logan Sanchez, who had six kills, step up in matches to go along with star senior Noah Douphner’s usual productivity is key.  “We know that teams are going to key on Noah, so we know that other people are going to have plenty of opportunities, and they just have to take advantage of the opportunities,” Johnson said. “And they both did tonight. It was not clean, it was not perfect, but we don’t need it to be from them. We just need them to produce, and we need them to keep some attention on them so it opens up the rest of the court for everybody.”  Valencia middle blocker Dylan McFatridge (99) and outside hitter Jonathan Yun (7) go up for a block against West Ranch during the second set of Thursday’s game at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Douphner, a Cal State Northridge commit, had a match-high 30 kills. Not just a point-winner, Douphner was all over the court and helping the Wildcats any way he could.  “He sees the game so well,” Johnson said. “He’s so experienced, he’s so athletic, he’s got drive. He wants to be the best. He works hard to be the best. He’s everything you kind of want as a coach to be able to coach, because he makes my job a lot easier.”  West Ranch sophomore Stephen Choi had 31 assists and senior Jackson Manansala had 21 assists. Senior Parker Rappoport had five blocks and senior Chris Song had 10 digs.  Valencia head coach Brendan Riley had elected to allow senior Nathan Willis, last year’s Foothill League Player of the Year at libero, to start the match off as an outside hitter. That worked through the second set, which went the way of the Vikings, but after West Ranch won the third set, Willis was moved back to his normal position in the middle of the floor.  West Ranch outside hitter Caleb Sperber (1) goes up for a block against Valencia outside hitter Jonathan Yun (7) during the first set of Thursday’s game at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “I was thinking about changing it after the first set, and my libero wanted to have another go, and we ended up winning, so I stuck with it,” Riley said. “He was undersized, but I don’t think that hurt us. I just think they played better. They’re an all-around good team, and we got to get better.”  Willis ended up with six digs. Senior Jonathan Yun had a team-high nine kills while junior Gavan Miranda had eight and junior Dylan McFatridge had six.  Riley said both Yun and Miranda have top-level talent and can match up with the best on other teams despite only two years of experience playing club volleyball for Yun and none for Miranda.  Valencia middle blocker Dylan McFatridge (99) hits the ball over the net against West Ranch middle hitter Parker Rappoport (16) during the second set of Thursday’s game at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “I just told Jonathan that he I really hope he gets attention, because this is his third year, but only two seasons of club,” Riley said. “He has not even come close to his potential, and he’s improved a ton in the first part of the season. And he belongs … Gavan’s just a freak of nature. He’s never played club. I wish he would. He jumps out of the gym, and he’s really got a lot to learn, too, but he’s a superb athlete.”  Similar to last week when West Ranch hosted Canyon, the Valencia fans made sure to let the Wildcats know whenever something didn’t go their way. Sperber said he and his teammates have learned to embrace the villain role that West Ranch has in the league this season.  “I feel like everyone kind of knows we’re the big dogs in league right now,” Sperber said. “You know, everyone wants to beat us. They’re gonna do whatever they can to beat us, and we know that. So, we’re prepared for all that.”  Valencia opposite hitter Leo Sangthongkum (21) sets the ball during the second set of Thursday’s game against West Ranch at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Valencia is set to play in tournament action on Saturday before traveling to Canyon on Tuesday.  West Ranch has the league bye on Tuesday and returns to the court next Thursday at home against Hart as the Wildcats look to take home the league title for the first time since 2022.  “I mean, we beat good teams to start league, and we still have good teams to go,” Sperber said. “So, just staying focused. It feels good, but we haven’t won league yet, and that’s the ultimate goal right now, so not satisfied with what we’ve done.”  West Ranch outside hitter Noah Douphner (21) goes for the kill against Valencia opposite hitter Leo Sangthongkum (21) during the first set of Thursday’s game at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Here’s what else happened in Thursday’s Foothill League boys’ volleyball action:  Saugus 3, Hart 1: The Saugus Centurions (5-6, 1-3) picked up their first league win on Thursday with a four-set victory on the road at Hart (0-6, 0-3), 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23.  Owen Jackson led the Centurions with 11 kills while Luke Bergmann had 10 kills and Josh Lane had eight. CJ Amaya recorded three aces.  AJ Casillas had nine kills for Hart and Eyad Naba had seven kills. Gavin Locke recorded seven kills and four blocks and Jharem Domingo had 18 assists.  Valencia’s Holden Aspiras (25) sets the ball during the first set of Thursday’s game against West Ranch at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Canyon 3, Golden Valley 2: The Canyon Cowboys (7-2, 2-1) handed the Golden Valley Grizzlies (9-7, 2-1) their first league loss on Thursday at home in five sets, 25-17, 22-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-10.  Jayden Hayes had 18 kills for Canyon while Blake Hastings had 15 kills. James Audette recorded 31 assists and six aces.  Nick Waldron had 25 kills for Golden Valley and Akshay Karumuri had 7 kills.  West Ranch outside hitter Ethan Paik (8) hits the ball over the net against Valencia opposite hitter Leo Sangthongkum (21) and middle blocker Dylan McFatridge (99) during the first set of Thursday’s game at Valencia High School on March 13, 2025. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The post West Ranch boys’ volleyball makes early statement in battle of league unbeatens  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal. ...read more read less