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It wasn't a question of if Long Beach Poly men's volleyball would catch fire in CIF Southern Section Division 3 action, it was a matter of when.
The Jackrabbits overcame some early nerves Wednesday night at Ron Palmer Pavilion en route to a 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20 victory over visiting Fountain Valley in the quarterfinals. They built up an overwhelming two-set lead. .
“[Working on our slow starts] That was the first thing we talked about after the last game. ” Poly coach Sid Davidson said. “This is the first thing we worked on in practice and they performed tonight. We have some good seniors and they said they didn't want the season to end, so going forward, We have to make every practice like our last practice.”
After dropping the first two sets in Saturday's second round with a come-from-behind sweep win against Trabuco Hills, the Jackrabbits flipped the script in the quarterfinals, convincingly winning the first two sets against Fountain Valley. He recovered with a victory. Poly led by as many as seven points in the first set and came back in the second set with a total of 11 ties.
“It's great. I love starting the game really strong,” said Poly middle blocker KJ Hill, who had a game-high four blocks. “The energy in the crowd and on the bench is high and we all look like a team and a family. Just listening to the coaches there and they helped us build a solid block early on. He gave it to me.”
In the third set, Fountain Valley looked more lively behind outside hitters Bennett Hagedorn and Thomas Ho. The pair helped the Barons fight back and held the lead throughout a 25-21 third set victory.
“We had to trap and clean up a lot of little things that were falling around us,” Davidson said. “If you drop a pass here or dig here, our guys' energy level goes down a little bit. But once that energy starts moving again, you know what happened.”
The Jackrabbits looked back to senior captain Lucky Isoa, who came alive in the fourth set. Iosua had 10 of her game-high 23 kills in the fourth set, including a kill on match point, to advance her team to the semifinals.
“It was just the energy that the bench gave me,” he said. “Everybody was looking up at me, so I told them, 'I got you guys,' and I got it done. I think it was the environment, too: the bench, the fans, and all my family and friends.”
Hill added 12 kills to Iosua's 23. Jackson Trannell added nine kills and Matt Zoa had eight. Those four were fed by setter Ryder Tuoroa, who finished all 58 assists for the Jackrabbits.
“It's easy knowing we have outside (batsmen) who can go up and hit like that,” Tuoroa said. “And we were able to rely on our middle as well. It feels great to have them go up and get the ball.”
Tuoloa, who transferred to St. Anthony's, came into this season having missed the club season with a foot injury, but is finding his form on the court as a senior. Tuoloa was also sidelined with a foot injury two years ago, so it's good to finally have a chance to play in the playoffs for Poly while healthy.
“It really means a lot to me,” he said. “This team really welcomed me after the injury. I tried hard to get back into shape and it went really well because my teammates helped me.”
“He's a special player, definitely a special player,” said Tuoroa's Davidson. “I know he transferred schools and hasn't been around as much, but I love this kid because he's been through a lot of adversity. He broke his ankle two years ago. And last year he broke his foot. He didn't really train with us in the fall, so this is a huge tribute to his hard work and dedication to the sport.”
The Jackrabbits will travel to San Juan Capistrano on Saturday to face St. Margaret's in the Division 3 semifinals.