Van Nuys Wins in 5 Games, Heads for City 3-A Playoffs : Volleyball: Wolves look like championship contenders in Valley Pac-8 Conference match against tough Canoga Park.

VAN NUYS — As a teacher of Advanced Placement Calculus at Van Nuys High, Dave Bessler loves numbers.

Bessler also knows a thing or two about volleyball mathematics.

The coach of the Van Nuys boys’ team, Bessler was pleased with the final equation of a Valley Pac-8 Conference match Wednesday against Canoga Park: a 15-4, 15-8, 12-15, 12-15, 15-9 victory for the Wolves.

But he wants more from his team, which is a perfect 11-0 (7-0 in the conference).

“I think 13 wins would be nice,” said Bessler. “But 17-0 is what we’re looking for.”

Victories in the final two conference matches and a 4-0 playoff run would give the Wolves the City Section 3-A title, a goal they missed last season with a loss in the finals to Marshall.

“This year, we’ve crushed all the competition we’ve played and we have a good chance at getting there again,” said outside hitter Ricardo Hernandez, who had 26 kills and seven blocks for Van Nuys despite a strained right shoulder that required ultrasound therapy before the match. “Everyone understands that from now on, everything’s crucial.”

The Wolves absolutely looked like championship contenders in the first two games.

They rushed out to 9-3 leads in both games and barely broke a sweat for a 2-0 lead.

But Canoga Park (8-3, 5-3), which dealt Van Nuys its sole regular-season loss in 1994, didn’t roll over.

Reserve Carlos Harper provided a boost with four kills in the third game and six blocks in the fourth. He finished with nine kills and nine blocks.

“He was one of the sparks,” said Canoga Park Coach Joey Nakasone.

A fifth game became reality for Van Nuys, as did memories of last season’s loss to Canoga Park.

“That was the first thing that came to my mind,” said Hernandez. “I didn’t want to lose like last year.”

They didn’t.

They led 7-0 and 14-1 before finally putting away the Hunters, who failed to go down quietly by staving off five match points and climbing to within 14-9 before Hernandez ended it with a simple lob.