Millikan def. Poly: 21-25, 25-22, 22-25, 28-26, 15-13
Wow! Unless you’re part of the Millikan locker room, there’s no way you’re convincing me you saw this coming—Poly was undefeated at 9-0 coming into this match, with sweep wins over Millikan and Lakewood under their belt. The only team to even take a set off of them was Wilson, the league’s second-best team. Millikan and Lakewood entered the final day of the league schedule tied for third place and the league’s final playoff berth. They were playing the league’s best and second-best teams, and it was widely expected they’d both lose, and thus have a one-off playoff match at LBCC on Friday at 4pm to determine which would go to CIF.
Well, the Rams shelved that possibility by shocking the Rabbits in five sets in the Howard Lyons gym, for what is unquestionably one of the biggest upsets of the year, in any sport. Since Lakewood lost, the Rams grab hold of third.
Poly coach Vuthy Cheav says he rested two starters (John La Rusch and senior Patrick Noble), but that Millikan didn’t win because of those absences. “Millikan wanted it more, for third place,” he said. “We made a lot of unforced errors.”
Wilson def. Lakewood: 25-20, 26-24, 23-25, 25-15
It’s not an exciting story, nor a new one, but it’s still true: whoever makes the least amount of errors tends to win the contest, regardless of age, skill level, or sport. On Thursday at Wilson’s senior night, it was the Bruins who played the more precise game, taking Lakewood in four. The Lancers showed an incredible amount of improvement from the first round, but gave Wilson 8 of their last 9 points in the first set on hitting and service errors, 5 of their last 8 points in the second set, and 4 of their last 6 points in the fourth and final frame.
“I do think it’s a youth thing,” said Lakewood coach Jeremy Moenoa. “The guys making errors were all sophomores, none of my juniors or seniors made an error there. They’ll get it in time.”
Lucas Tate had a solid match for the Lancers, with 8 kills, Sean McGee had 7, and junior Jake Burkhardt had 8 kills, 5 blocks, and two aces.
Wilson coach Susan Pescar credited the Lancers, saying, “They’re twice as good as they were in round one.” Asked if her team was ready for the playoffs, Pescar said, “This was a team that had to be developed…but I do think they’re ready for CIF.”
Leaders for the Bruins were Cory Leckie, with 26 assists, Jake MacRae, with 16 kills, 1 block, and 7 digs, and Brandon Fuimaono, who was incredible with 24 kills, 26 digs, and an ace.
Lakewood will submit at-large paperwork thanks to Millikan’s upset of Poly; we’ll know Sunday where Poly, Wilson, and Millikan are headed, and whether or not the Lancers make it in. If they don’t, it will be the first time since boys’ volleyball was introduced as a sport that Lakewood didn’t have a team in the postseason, according to the school.