The time has come, Long Beach. For the last five weeks we’ve brought you heaps and heaps of high school football coverage, kept you updated on LBSU and LBCC, and tried to get to as many other events as we can. Well, as of today, consider yourselves warned: high school volleyball coverage is coming, too. Why? Because you need to know what’s happening this season.
The Lakewood Lancers are defending state champions, and have a talented team that could make a playoff run again this year. Wilson has built a program over the last few years, and their team has matured into a nationally-ranked contender. Poly has built a team nearly from scratch, as first-year head coach Leland McGrath is molding a number of talented young sophomores into an upstart threat. Oh, and when the new rankings come out on Monday it’s more than likely that all three programs will be on CIF’s top ten Southern Section list.
All three members of the Moore League triumvirate played on Saturday, in the 4th Annual Steve Lewis VolleyFest. Steve Lewis was the head coach of Lakewood’s team for seven years, until he passed away tragically four years ago. Lewis was an incredibly influential personality in the Long Beach volleyball world, coaching club teams as well as the Lancers. The VolleyFest is held every year in his name as a fundraiser for the Steve Lewis Award, a scholarship given each year to a Moore League volleyball player who exhibits the qualities of determination and discipline that Lewis valued. Lewis also valued quality competition, according to current Lancers coach Mike Wadley, which is why every year they schedule the best teams in the region. This year, the three matches saw five of the southland’s top ten teams. I’d say that’s a pretty high level of competition.
With an event of the competitive and emotional significance of the VolleyFest, we figured there’d be no better time to launch our Moore League girls’ volleyball coverage, with thumbnail looks at the top three teams. Enjoy, and come back week to week for more coverage and highlights!
Poly vs. Rosary
“Let’s push right here,” coach McGraff said to his team calmly in the final set of a 3-1 Poly victory over Rosary in the VolleyFest’s first match. “Push” pretty well describes what Poly has done all year, as McGraff has taken a young, talented team (8 of the 14 players on his roster are freshmen or sophomores), and helped to mold them into a competitor on a big scale. How big? Well, they took Lakewood to the brink in a five-set match last week, before eventually falling to last year’s state champions.
With young players like Litara Kiet, a tall and powerful sophomore who’s a force to be reckoned with in the middle, and Bria Russ, another sophomore who has a collegiate-type swing already working for her, Poly should be able to play pretty much any opponent that tightly. Today they won in a big way, as Rosary was ranked number nine in the southern section, a spot Poly is now likely to usurp. Kiet (with ten kills and six blocks) and Russ (with 15 kills and two blocks) were instrumental in the win, as was senior Nailah Waterfield and her 14 digs. Poly is athletic, strong, and, what’s more, hungry. They could end up a force to be reckoned with, especially since they still play the Bruins twice this season, and the Lancers another time. I’d be surprised if they didn’t pull at least one upset in those three matches.
Lakewood vs. Orange Lutheran
It was a regular joust in the first evening game of the ‘Fest, as the Lakewood Lancers took on the Orange Lutheran Lancers, and ended up falling in the fifth set. Lakewood looked uneven, especially early in each set, which coach Wadley attributed to the fact that injuries have kept them from getting into their rotation this season. After losing the first set, they went down 12-9 in the second, before going 16-7 to finish. In the third, they were down 11-7, before going on a 12-3 run to take a decisive 19-14 lead, which they rode to victory. The fourth game was a barnburner, as Lakewood went on runs of 5-1 and 6-2, but still lost 28-26. The fifth game was all O-Lu, as they never trailed en route to a 15-9 win.
The streaky off-and-on performance was indicative, yes, of a team that’s still learning to play together as Wadley pointed out, but also of a team that is next to unstoppable when they get on a roll, even by a quality opponent. Junior Jazmine Orozco’s 15 kills and three blocks, and the combine efforts of Taylor Hollins (14 kills and three blocks) and Tyler Jackson (14 kills, two blocks) certainly helped. When those three were on, Lakewood looked like they belonged on a podium. While distressed by his team’s inconsistency, Wadley admitted, “We have another gear, we just have to hit it.”
Wilson vs. Los Al
One thing Wilson has that Lakewood and Poly don’t, however, is a legit student section. The Bruins’ fan club (which included football standout Jemari Roberts) made a lot of noise during Wilson’s 3-1 victory over Los Al, but not as much as the Wilson students on the floor did. Jenna McNaney, a junior defensive specialist, had 23 digs, fan-favorite Deveney Pula had 15 kills, and Kellie Woolever added 13 kills, along with 30 assists on the night.
The match was slow and sloppy in the beginning, but both powerhouses settled down after the first game. Wilson isn’t as flashy as Lakewood or Poly, but they have a measured, power-driven style that’s very effective, and hard to disrupt. In the fourth and final set, Wilson took a 7-6 lead, and fended of each successive Los Al run, never relinquishing the lead as they cruised to the easy victory.
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There are, over the next month and a half, five matches between these three teams, in what is sure to be a highly contentious Moore League regular season. It’s probably safe to say that they’ll meet at least once during the playoffs, too. By then, we’ll have gotten another handful of chances to see them in action against each other, and we’ll know who the recipient of this year’s Steve Lewis Award is. To break that down for you, we’ve got physically gifted, driven athletes playing against each other for high stakes, with some amazing emotional storylines. If that’s not Long Beach sports, I don’t—you know what? Scratch that. That is Long Beach sports.