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There was no exception to Long Beach Poly's “win or go home” mentality Thursday night in the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs, even as they were down two sets at the time of their visit to Trabuco Hills. It was no exception. The Jackrabbits weren't daunted by the fact that their season was on the line, posting 31 kills as Poli returned to defeat the Mustangs 15-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15. I relied on my senior captain, Lucky Isoa. -12.
“It feels good. [to be relied on in those moments]” said Iosua. “The team needed me to step up, so I just came in and tried my best and did whatever I could.”
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“Luck is great. He's our senior leader and captain and he definitely came through for us tonight,” added Poly coach Sid Davidson. “We've been battle-tested, dude. Today was the same word as Thursday night: 'Win or go home.' They didn't want the season to end, so they performed. ”
Height was the dominant early challenge for the Jackrabbits, as Trabuco Hill's Drew Johnson and Hayden Grange started the game strong. The pair combined for 39 of the Mustangs' kills, leading Trabuco to a lopsided victory in his first two sets.
“It didn't look like that in the movie,” Davidson joked. “They're big. They're big, they're in a tough league, and they play very tough. We knew if they were going to jump on us early, we had to break their rhythm. We were on fire. We're not a fast-starting team, so we definitely had to break up their rhythm.”
That's when Lucky Iosua, along with middle blocker KJ Hill, started to pick up the pace in the third set. Hill helped his team fight back from a 21-21 tie in the third and faced the difficult task of blocking Trabuco Hills' slugging hitters. Hill finished the game with eight kills and a team-best kill rate of 72.7%, and visibly brought the team to life with both her energy as a teammate and player.
“I just tried to trust my team and talk to them during timeouts and between sets,” Hill said. “I really tried to get their energy up and give them confidence and let them know that we can win. That ultimately brought the energy to a point where I could play my best game. I did.”
With solid momentum in Poly's black and gray, the Jackrabbits entered the fourth with the momentum of an 8-3 opener. Poly led by as many as 10 points in the set, then tied it up in two sets apiece, sending Trabuco Hills into the fifth and final set.
The Jackrabbits began the fifth similarly with a 7-1 run, forcing a Mustang timeout. Lucky Iosua looked unstoppable in this set, getting his 31st kill on match point and advancing the Jackrabbits to the third round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.
“The energy was big for us, especially down there at the end,” Isoa said. “We told ourselves from the beginning he'll be up to five, then he'll be one to eight, and from the beginning he'll be up to 15. That's all we wanted. Yes, we did it.”
Matt Tsao had 10 kills and Iosua had a game-high 31 kills, while Hill added eight kills of his own. Ryder Tuoroa recorded all 57 assists for the Jackrabbits and added a team-high 17 goals.
For the Mustangs, Drew Josnin had a team-high 20 kills and Hayden Grange added 18 kills. Brian Prendergast also contributed nine kills.
The Jackrabbits will face the winner of Capo Valley Christian and Fountain Valley. The pair will play against each other on Monday, with the winner facing Poli on Wednesday.