Long Beach Poly's Lucky Iosua drives the ball to the Fountain Valleys side during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
LONG BEACH — The Long Beach Poly men's volleyball team is peaking at the right time, and senior outside hitter Lucky Iosua is central to the team's success.
Iosua had a game-high 23 kills in Poly's 3-1 win at home against Fountain Valley in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinals on Wednesday. Junior middle blocker KJ Hill added 12 kills, including a highlight kill when he ran through a defender late in the second set to take a 22-20 lead. Junior setter Ryder Tuaro had 58 assists.
Long Beach Poly's Matt Tsao and John Hively go on the block against Fountain Valley in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Long Beach Poly's Lucky Iosua drives the ball to the Fountain Valleys side during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Fountain Valley's Arion Wang jumps in celebration after taking a set from Long Beach Poly during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Fountain Valley's Bryant Jenson sets the ball against Long Beach Poly in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo credit, Tracy Roman)
Long Beach Poly's John Hively defeats Fountain Valley's Alec Painduan and Billy Watkins in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. About to hit the ball (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Fountain Valley's Thomas Ho defeats Poly's Matt Tsao and John Hively to win the ball in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. strike. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Long Beach Poly's Lucky Iosua hits the ball over Fountain Valley's Bryant Jenson and Billy Watkins during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. I was about to hit it. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Fountain Valleys tries to bowl over Long Beach Poly's Matt Tsao and John Hively during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. Bennett Hagedorn (Photo provided by Tracy Roman)
Poly crowd goes wild as they lead Fountain Valley in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Long Beach Poly's Allii Oglesby returns serve as the Jackrabbits take on Fountain Valley in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. (Photo) :Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Long Beach Poly's KJ Hill celebrates a big play as he leads Fountain Valley in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. (Photo by Tracy) Roman)
Long Beach Poly's Jackson Trunnell puts on tires and Fountain Valley's Thomas Ho and Billy play during the CIF-SS Men's Volleyball D3 Quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. – Hit the ball past Watkins. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Fountain Valley's Gavin Hung hits the ball over Long Beach Poly's KJ Hill and Lucky Isoa during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. Finally (Photo provided by Tracy Roman)
Fountain Valley's Thomas Ho beat Poly's John Hively and Matt Tsao in the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. . (Photo courtesy of Tracy Roman)
Fountain Valley players celebrate a big play during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals against Long Beach Poly on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, Calif. (Photo by Tracy Roman) )
Long Beach Poly's John Hively blocks a ball from Fountain Valley's Bryant Jenson during the CIF-SS men's volleyball D3 quarterfinals Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Tracy Roman, contributing photographer)
Long Beach Poly prepares to take on Fountain Valley in the CIF-SS Men's Volleyball D3 Quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Long Beach, California. (Photo credit, Tracy Roman)
The Jackrabbits (23-11) finished second in the Moore League but then won three straight in the playoffs to earn a spot in Saturday's D3 semifinals at St. Margaret's.
“Honestly, it means a lot to me,” Isoa said. “There's a lot of guys coming in, new guys, everybody's looking to me to lead the way, and I'm just here to lead the way.”
“Our team captain, Lackey, is a fourth-year starter, fourth-year outside hitter,” Poly coach Sid Davidson said. “He did what he was supposed to do, and there's a reason he's the team captain.”
Iosua believes Poly's home court advantage gave it an added advantage, allowing the team to pull away in the first two sets against the Barons, 25-18 and 25-21.
“It’s really the environment,” Iosua continued. “Being our parents, our bench, our school was really important.”
Fountain Valley (23-6), the co-champion of the Sunset Wave League, was led by fourth-year outside hitter Thomas Ho and sophomore middle hitter Billy Watkins. The Barons trailed 2-0, jumped out to a 9-5 lead early in the third, and ultimately won 25-21 on Ho's inspired play.
“We had a hard time getting consistent in the first set,” Fountain Valley coach Rebecca Cheltenham said. “This is something we have spent a lot of time on and it has been our biggest focus.
“(Poly) had some strong hitters, but we were inconsistent with our hitting, serving. And once we got into that third set, they started playing for each other and playing together. That's what I wanted, and it seemed like the tension was gone, and they responded.”
But Poly regrouped and took an 8-3 lead early in the fourth.
“I told them to move on to the next play. If we want to continue playing, we have to finish it right,” Iosua recalled.
Fountain Valley settled down and cut Poly's lead to 10-8 near the midway point of the fourth set. The Jackrabbits responded by scoring a few points and taking a 14-10 lead midway through the fourth. Poli led 21-17 late in the fourth set and won the fourth set 25-20.
“I felt like this was the best playoff game ever…It was like the goal we scored earlier in the year,” Davidson continued. “Unfortunately, we didn't win the league, so we said the next best thing was CIF, so we had to make sure we got a good seed, definitely polished it up, and worked hard in practice.”