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Long Beach Poly's sluggish start finally caught up with it Saturday night in the CIF-SS Division 3 semifinals. The Jackrabbits were unable to overcome another slow start during a visit to St. Margaret's School in San Juan Capistrano. The Tartans took advantage of Poly's early struggles and relied on their height to corner the Jackrabbits, ultimately ending the season with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 sweep.
“We got off to a slow start, but we played against a good team and you can see the results,” Poly coach Sid Davidson said. “I have to give credit to that team. They've been here before and are definitely experienced, but we started very slow. We matched the tempo of their game. We played, but it was clear that things weren't really going well.”
The Tartans' length was on display early on, along with a pair of 6-foot-5 guys in Myles Eaton and Beckett Harvey, followed by Stanford's 6-foot-7 Reid Wainwright. Despite being led in both of his first two sets, the trio helped the Tartans build leads by as much as seven points and eight points, respectively, to win each set.
Poly trailed by two sets in the playoffs against Trabuco Hills, but came from behind to win against the Mustangs at home in the second round. The Jackrabbits looked to be back on their feet heading into the game against St. Margaret's as well, but the home team's momentum prevented Poli from replicating the comeback against their longer opponents. The Jackrabbits never took the lead in the third set, trailing by as many as eight points.
“They were very similar to Trabuco Hills, which is a very good team,” Davidson said. “Similarly [their height] It definitely bothered us. But again, if we had stayed calm and passed the first ball, a lot of that would have been erased. There's no doubt that the first touch of the ball didn't go well and that's how it turned out. ”
St. Margaret's Reid Wainwright led the way with a game-high 22 kills, while Beckett Harvey added 10 kills to go with Miles Eaton's nine.
Poly's Lucky Iosuo led the team with 10 kills in his final high school game, while John Hivley, Jackson Trunelle and Matt Tsoa each had three kills.
This is the second time for Long Beach Poly that the Jackrabbits have advanced to the semifinals, the first being in 1998. The last time they reached the semifinals was in 2020, and the Jackrabbits hosted a playoff game for the first time this season since their appearance four years ago.
“Regardless of what happened in this game, win or lose, these are going to be memories for a lifetime for them. We had a great season, and regardless of the result, we had a great season. “You can't take anything away from a great season,” Davidson said.
The St. Margarets will host the CIF-SS Division 3 championship game against San Clemente on Saturday. The Jackrabbits will now wait to qualify for the CIF State Boys Volleyball Playoffs.