Samueli Academy head coach Henry Pena cheers with his team as he holds up the CIF Southern Section Division 6 boys volleyball championship plaque after defeating Riverside Poly on Friday, May 10, 2024. (Photograph provided by Andrew Falk)
RIVERSIDE — Samueli Academy boys volleyball player Henry Pena knew his team would have to deal with the heat that Riverside Poly junior opposite hitter Weston Werner is known to bring.
Vitor Perez was ready for the challenge, keeping the junior libero from hitting several balls on the floor. Werner had several strong stretches during the match, but was limited to just 11 kills on 45 attempts.
Offensively, Samueli Academy's Isaac Ramirez and David Zarate provided a fire of their own as the dynamic juniors combined for 28 kills to lead the Firewolves to CIF Southern's Riverside Poly 25-21, 25 -23, 25-12 victory. Friday night's Section Division 6 championship match.
It was the first Southern Section title in any sport for Samueli Academy, which opened in 2013.
“As any coach will tell you, it took a lot of work to get to this moment,” Peña said. “They've been dedicated and dedicated. They set a goal for themselves and wanted it so bad.”
Samueli Academy (27-3) had some shaky moments early in the game, but those nerves quickly dissipated. Zarate had three consecutive kills and Perez had two aces to highlight an 8-0 run that gave the Firewolves a 9-4 advantage in the first set. Samueli Academy led by as many as eight points, but Riverside Poly managed to outgrow it and avoid four set points.
Ramirez took a set from Andrew Silverio on the right side and got a kill to end the match.
Perez's shots, especially those from Werner's attacks, drew cheers from the visiting crowd.
“My blockers are very good, so I wanted to target the ball that went past them,” Perez said. “I just tried to play my game and be as consistent as possible. Just get the ball up as much as possible.”
Riverside Poly middle blocker Porter McCandless had four kills on five attempts in the first frame and continued to give the Bears a hot hand in the second set. McCandless had kills on his first six swings of the set, including consecutive kills that gave Poli a 13-11 advantage.
“Porter is only a sophomore. He is very dedicated and focused and has become one of our strongest hitters,” said Poli coach Manuel Sabalza. “He was a big part of creating momentum for us going forward.”
However, Samueli Academy responded with an 11-5 run to regain control of the game. Allen Carriedo had three kills during that run, and Zarate contributed to the Firewolves' victory with two kills of his own.
Riverside Poly (23-12) fell into a hole early in the third set, and Sabalza decided to burn a timeout early. However, the Bears couldn't stop the bleeding, and with a plethora of hitting errors, they extended their lead against Samueli Academy to double digits. Zarate and Ramirez combined for seven kills in the final frame, and blocks from Carriedo and Hassett Seyoum started the Firewolves' celebration.
“We've had a lot of doubts over the years,” Perez said. “This win is a great feeling for our seniors who have put so much effort into this program…we are all happy for them.”
Nathan Nguyen, who started the game as a setter, is one of the seniors on this year's team.
“It feels great to accomplish something like this,” Nguyen said. “We worked hard for it.”
Zarate had a match-high 15 kills, and Ramirez added 13 kills and three aces.
Sabalza said he believes serve and serve receive are the biggest differences in results. Samueli Academy had seven aces in this match. Poli did not record an ace, but had seven service errors.
Despite Friday's results, Savardza said the program has taken a step forward and has a bright future.
“We only had two seniors on the court today. I think next year is going to be great for us,” Savarza said. “We're going to come back and put in the work. And we hope to be even stronger next season.”
McCandless finished with 11 kills, tied for first on the team with Werner.
