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.
Wilson Boys’ Volleyball is on the hunt for their second CIF championship in the last three seasons, and the Bruins are now one step closer as they defeated the Marina Vikings on Thursday night 25-15, 25-22, 20-25, 25-14.
“We wanted to use this first round game to set the tone for how we want to play for the rest of the season,” junior outside hitter Ian Nolte said. “We want to keep our level of play up to be our best for each game.”
The Bruins came out hot in the first set, starting off with an amazing kill by sophomore opposite Marek Turner, and a solo block from junior middle blocker Alden Jacobs. Turner tallied 10 kills for the Bruins on Thursday night, and Jacobs added 3.
Jacobs kept that same momentum throughout the rest of the set, as he had back-to-back blocks, followed by an ace to aid the Bruins to victory. The Vikings’ missed serves in the first set gave Wilson all they needed, as a service error at game point closed out the set.
Wilson came out swinging (literally) in the 2nd set, as Nolte opened up the frame with an overpass kill, followed by a shot to the deep corner to give the Bruins a great start. Nolte scored 10 of Wilson’s 32 kills on Thursday. Wilson showcased great defense throughout the game, as they were able to compete during scramble plays.
Wilson coach Chris Ceballos commented on how they are preparing for this year’s playoffs.
“We are trying to find a rhythm and get the whole team in sync. We could have been more locked in during the 3rd set, but we found our momentum again at the end, and we got the result we needed,” Ceballos stated.
The Bruins came out in the 3rd set trailing for the first time the entire match. The Vikings were relentless on defense, as junior libero Sean Andrews was all over the court to give Marina a fighting chance. Wilsons serving game ultimately put them behind in the 3rd set. Turner was able to help chip away at the Viking lead with key kills, and momentum that followed them into the 4th set.
“We wanted to rebuild the energy we had in the 1st set, and bring that into the 4th set,” senior middle blocker and co-captain Max Cherin said, “We needed to rebuild our confidence to move forward with the game, and playoffs in general.”
Wilson was able to channel the energy from the 1st set, into their play to close out the game. Nolte had a big kill for the Bruins to start out the set. After a big defensive play from Jacobs, and a solo block from Cherin in the same play, the Bruins were able to breeze by the Vikings, and take the 4th set by the widest margin of the night.
Wilson will travel to Orange Lutheran on Saturday at 6 p.m. to take on the Lancers in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs.
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In other playoff action, Millikan swept Corona Santiago 25-20, 25-15, 25-14 at Howard Lyon Gym to advance to the second round of the Division 2 playoffs. The Rams will visit No. 2 seed Servite at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
St. Anthony was the other local team to advance to the second round. The Saints swept Westminster 25-20, 25-15, 25-21 at home and will also be hitting the road in round two. St. Anthony will be at Rancho Verde on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Thursday marked the end of the season for both Long Beach Poly and Jordan. The Jackrabbits suffered a three-set loss at Santa Barbara in Division 2, while Jordan couldn’t build off their wild card win, falling in three sets to Quartz Hill in Division 4.
