Santa Margarita's Luke Ackerman, 2, tips the ball during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 2 boys volleyball playoffs Wednesday, May 1, at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita. He beat Wilson's Will Morrison, 17, and sent it over the net. 2024. (Photo courtesy of Orange County Register/SCNG, Leonard Ortiz)
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — The Santa Margarita boys volleyball team defeated Long Beach Wilson 25-23, 25-21, 26-24 in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs Wednesday at Santa Margarita High School. He showed his depth with the win.
Santa Margarita (19-3) will face Trinity League foe Servite in the semifinals on Saturday at Servite.
Santa Margarita hasn't won a CIF Men's Volleyball Championship since 2001 and hasn't played in a CIF Championship game since 2011.
Wednesday's game will go down in history as Santa Margarita's 3-0 victory, but the game was much closer than the score indicated.
Wilson (27-8) led all sets, making things difficult for the Eagles.
“The result doesn't really reflect the quality of volleyball on the court. They're a good team,” Santa Margarita coach Sinan Tanik said. “We studied them well, and our guys took the task seriously and did pretty much exactly what they were supposed to do.”
Wilson was this season's Moore League champions, defeating St. Francis in the first round. The Bruins most recently won the CIF Championship in 2021 by defeating St. Francis in the Division 3 Championship.
“I'm very proud. Everything we accomplished required effort,” Wilson coach Christopher Ceballos said. “It helped that our blockers touched the ball at times. We couldn't get the offense going, but other than that we were pretty much intact.”
Santa Margarita got a great game from star outside hitter Ethan Saint. The UC Santa Barbara signee recorded a game-high 18 kills, two blocks and he added an ace.
Freshman setter Chase Wallin had 34 assists and played a key role in the Saints' success. He did a good job of spreading the ball around and preventing the Wilson defense from zoning in on the Saints.
“Chase does a great job running the program and all of his teammates support him,” Tanik said. “Ethan is obviously our captain, our leader, our top scorer and the titles that come with that. Everyone I sent out did their job perfectly, and that was the key to our victory.”
Ceballos praised Wallin and the Eagles' offense.
“Their setter kept us off balance and moved the ball really well,” Ceballos said. “Even when they took big swings, they were able to get some quality digs and really score points.”
Brooks Ignossi had 16 kills and eight different players scored for the Eagles. Libero Blake Herman added 11 goals and Wallin added nine.
Ian Nolte, an Ohio State signee, led Wilson with 18 kills, nine of which came in the third set. Will Morrison had 13 kills and Shane Galula had 24 assists.
The Eagles defeated Servite in five sets on March 22 and swept the Friars on April 15.
“Servite is always a tough opponent,” Tanik said. “We have beaten them twice in the league and that is not taking them lightly. I know the quality of their players and coaching staff and I have a lot of respect for them. Everyone is tough and getting sharper.”