The Wilson Bruins boys’ volleyball team has won the league title five of the last eight years—but in that span (and heck, probably in the whole span of Wilson athletics) they’ve never done it so dominantly as they have this year, at a perfect 10-0, without giving up a single set all season. Official confirmation on the “ever in Wilson’s history” tag might be hard to come by (an inevitable price of a high school that’s over 80 years old), but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more talented, disciplined boys’ squad in Bruin colors than the team coach Susan Pescar put together over the last several months. The team completed the run with a 25-20, 25-8, 25-21 victory over Millikan Thursday afternoon.
“It shows our ability to focus,” said Bruin Mike Wilder after the match, which was also senior day. “At any time, anybody could’ve beaten us—we had to maintain our discipline.” That discipline has led to some unprecedented attention, as well as the unprecedented accomplishment. Wilson has been ranked as high as fourth in CIF this season (where they currently sit) and as high as 11th in the nation (where they also currently sit), both high marks in school history.
The Rams tested them early with a little back-and-forth in the first set, but Wilson clearly outmanned Millikan, as demonstrated by the lopsided second set. In the third, the Rams made it interesting again, pulling to within one point at 21-20 before the Bruins took the final four points straight to seal their place in history, regardless of what happens next. “I think it’s great for them,” said Pescar, “It’s a neat thing for them to have. We talked about goals before the season, and they said they wanted to be undefeated league champs. [All of Wilson’s five titles in the last eight season have been undefeated seasons.] So I told them in 2005 our girls’ team wanted to make it their goal to sweep all season, and they did it.” Smiling, Pescar added, “The goals we have are not easy.”
Leaders for the Bruins were Wilder, with 14 kills and 4 aces, Louie Frost with 29 assists, Kevin Poulin with 7 digs, and Jake MacRae with 11 digs. Aniefre Etim-Thomas had a solid match as well, with 5 kills and 5 blocks. Wilson now turns their attention to the CIF playoffs, in which they’ll hopefully be a top-four seed. Expectations from the Bruin faithful may be high as the Bruins enter the ridiculously talented field of the CIF Southern Section.
“I think we’re looking good,” said Wilder. “We’ve at least seen a lot of the top teams we’ll be facing.”
“We don’t look like we should be winning,” said Pescar, whose team is 25-6 overall. “On paper we don’t—but I think we can beat anybody if we’re on, if it’s our day, and if we play our game.”
Playoff brackets will be out Monday morning—we’ll of course be posting them live, so stay tuned!