Quick Recovery in the Cards for Eckmier

The best volleyball player in the City Section, Van Nuys High’s Angela Eckmier, was laid up in the hospital for nearly a week.

She had pneumonia.

She also had plenty of sympathy from college recruiters, several of whom called with get-well wishes. Arizona and Louisville even sent get-well cards.

“They knew I wasn’t feeling that great,” Eckmier said. “I was just miserable.”

A 6-foot-1 middle blocker, Eckmier had a 103-degree temperature and lost eight pounds this week before she checked out of the hospital Friday.

She thinks she got sick at a recent family reunion where she kayaked, hiked and “stayed up all night.”

“It was fun,” said Eckmier, who expects to fully recover for the Wolves’ first practice on Sept. 3.

“I’m still congested in the left lung, but I’m feeling better. I just need to slowly get back in the process.”

Out of doghouse: Junior tailback Jason Jones is back in the good graces of Kennedy High Coach Bob Francola after pulling one of

the stranger disappearing acts of last season.

Jones, a sophomore who was brought up to the varsity midway through last season to back up tailback Waking Bailey, didn’t show up at the stadium when the Golden Cougars lost to San Pedro in the quarterfinals of the City Section 4-A playoffs.

Francola was amazed when he found out why Jones was missing. Jones figured he wouldn’t see much playing time, so he simply decided not to show.

“I was kind of shocked,” Francola said. “I suppose he could have lied but he was honest about it. Needless to say, I had a few thousand words with him.”

Glory days: In the 1997 Cal football media guide, first-year Golden Bear Coach Tom Holmoe lists his “Top 10 Thrills in Football.”

No. 1 is winning Super Bowl XIX as a San Francisco 49ers defensive back. No. 10 is being a player on “the visiting Crescenta Valley [High] team that upset Anaheim in the [Southern Section] playoffs.”

Roadies: The Highlanders are homeless.

Thanks to gym renovations, the Royal High girls’ volleyball team will begin the season without a home base.

In the meantime, the Highlanders will split practice time at a park gym and a local church.

The Highlanders were scheduled to play their opener on Sept. 11 at home against powerhouse Harvard-Westlake, but will play at Harvard-Westlake instead.

“That’s OK,” Royal Coach Bob Ferguson said. “You’ve got to learn to play on the road.”

The gym was supposed to be done at the end of July, but complications arose during removal of the bleachers.

In addition to new bleachers, the gym is getting a new floor and a new coat of paint.

The gym is scheduled to be open for a home match Sept. 16 against Buena.