The562’s coverage of Long Beach Volleyball in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Misty May-Treanor and the Dream in Gold Foundation.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Poly alum Jayon Brown and PlayFair Sports Management.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by JuJu Smith-Schuster and the JuJu Foundation.
Wilson’s cohesion was off the charts on Tuesday as the Bruins crafted an almost flawless sweep of Long Beach Poly 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 to stay first and undefeated in Moore League.
“As a team, we know that we are playing to stay first in the league” Wilson coach Chris Ceballos said, “But we also strive to do something bigger in CIF”.
Setter Braden Pool-Harris was all over the court, feeding the ball to every hitting option possible. Sophomore Marek Turner had a game-high 13 kills and three blocks, while junior Ian Nolte had six kills. The Bruins ended the match with 40 total kills.
It was also senior night, and the Bruin seniors posted a strong performance as middle blocker Simon Van Divort had a perfect hitting percentage and outside hitter Robert Herrera tallied six kills.
Seniors Max Cherin and Pool-Harris noted after the game the importance of leadership and experience for the Bruins.
“Experience is key for me, I’ve been playing volleyball for seven years and have been through every hardship possible when it comes to this game, I know what to say to help pick up my team,” Pool-Harris said.
“Braden and I have been playing together for seven years, we have to lock-in for the high school season to make the most out of the short amount of time we have to stay on track,” Cherin said.
After the game, Poly coach Sid Davidson noted the team’s leaders and his expectations for the rest of the season and future.
“It’s all a mental game for us, we have a young team and when we play guys like Wilson, we just have to come out and play our best,” Davidson said, “Senior Matthew Jenkins and Sophomore KJ Hill are our big leaders on the court, I’m hoping to find more by the end of the season to help us prepare for next year.”
For Long Beach Poly, junior Lucky Iosua had some big moments by using Wilsons’ blocks to his advantage to score big kills. Junior Alli Oglesby joined Iosua with an equally impressive performance.
Wilson will host Cabrillo on Thursday while Poly travels to Lakewood.
