Steve Burkhart was surprised this week when the Moorpark College women's volleyball team opened up ranked No. 6 in the initial state coaches poll.

"For me that's a little high," said the Moorpark coach.

But it's difficult to argue about the Raiders' start.

Moorpark improved to 6-1 Tuesday with a straight game win at West Los Angeles.

"I like the start and we hope we can continue it," said Burkhart. "We've beaten some good teams."

Moorpark's only loss came to two-time defending state champion El Camino, the top-ranked team in the state.

"We've got a ways to catch them," said Burkhart, "so there's some work to do."

All-State outside hitter Savannah Thomas has moved on to UC Riverside, but Moorpark returns key sophomores in outside hitter Una Siljegovic and middle blocker Rachel Olinyk.

"We relied on (Thomas) a lot last year," said Burkhart of the 2008 Western State Conference Player of the Year. "I think we have a little more balance this year."

Moorpark has been boosted by setter Olivia White, a La Reina High product who transferred from the San Francisco Institute of Art, and outside hitter Shakila Balkhi, a Simi Valley High product who transferred from the University of Newfoundland.

"That's about as far as you can bounce back," said Burkhart. "She's been the biggest surprise for us so far. She's been terrific."

Newbury Park High products Chelcy Westphal and Erika Smith, whose twin sister Rachel is playing at Cal Lutheran, have moved right into the lineup as freshmen.

They will all be needed if Moorpark is to retain its WSC North title.

"The league is going to be much better this year," said Burkhart. "Ventura has taken a big step up. Even a team like Oxnard (is looking good).

"Santa Barbara has already beaten two teams from the Orange Empire (Conference) in Golden West and Fullerton."

Ventura (4-4) has a strong freshmen class, including outside hitters Shelbee Younce (Buena High) and Chelsea O'Mara (Oxnard High), as well 6-foot-2 middle blocker Kayla Phipps (Buena)

Oxnard (4-0) is off to its best start in recent memory behind sophomore outside hitter Dominique Franz and freshman setter Vanessa Valdez. Eight of the 10 players on the Condors roster are from Oxnard.

According to the Daily Breeze, former Louisville quarterback Matt Simms, the son of Phil and the younger brother of Chris, has joined the El Camino College football team.

The Raiders have built up quite a relationship El Camino College.

Not only do the two teams meet each other in their one annual preseason intersquad scrimmage, they have met in the postseason in each of the past two years.

The powerhouse from the South Bay squeaked by Moorpark in a 2006 Southern California quarterfinal before marching on to a state title. Last fall, the Raiders knocked out the defending champion, pulling out a 42-41 overtime thriller.

As all teams in Southern California this fall, the two teams give up their traditional conference affiliations for the Southern California Football Alliance this fall. Former WSC power Moorpark is now in the National Division's North Conference while former Mission Conference power El Camino is now in the National Division's Central Conference.

Upon second viewing, Moorpark College head football coach Jim Bittner felt much better about his team's efforts in its scrimmage Friday at El Camino College in Torrance.

"I just finished looking at it again," said Bittner. "I was pretty depressed after it finished Friday, but I feel much better having watched the film."

According to Bittner, El Camino won the game portion of the scrimmage, 18-12, before tacking on another score during an additional period. Moorpark struggled to run the ball against a mammoth defensive front, but quarterbacks Tyler Robertson and Donald Senegal each threw scoring strikes.

"It was very difficult to run against them," said Bittner. "But we threw pretty well."

"Senegal is a guy we've been messing with. He wants to be a receiver, but we really need him as a backup quarterback and he did a nice job."

Robertson, who yielded the starting job to Bryan Randolph last August after suffering a season-ending knee injury in a scrimmage, found receiver Justin Bradley for a long touchdown pass.

Bradley is the son of Moorpark all-time great Freddie Bradley, whose 1,946-yard, 27-touchdown, 10-game season in 1990 is considered the Western State Conference's

"He's faster than Conrad (Meadows)," said Bittner. "He dropped one deep that should have been a touchdown and beat the guy deep again for a touchdown."

(More after the jump)