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It’s been a long time coming for the Long Beach Poly volleyball team and its 12 seniors, who are on the brink of a historic season.
The Jackrabbits improved to a perfect 9-0 on Thursday night through three-fourths of their Moore League schedule, relying on a deep senior class to keep their momentum rolling in a four-set win against visiting Millikan. Poly defeated the Rams 25-13, 25-20, 20-25, 25-15.
“We’re senior led, and our first goal as a team was to win the league,” said Poly coach Sidney Davidson. “When we finished the season last year the guys came together during the summer and wanted to work hard. We set some goals and for the most part we’re slowly achieving them.”
Of the big senior class, Poly had its normal dose from hitters Matthew Tsao and Jackson Trunnelle, who each chipped in 10 kills in the Jackrabbits win. The pair were fed by standout setter Ryder Tuaolo, meanwhile middle-blocker KJ Hill added seven kills and five blocks.
The Jackrabbits also found big contributions from a handful of subs including setter Nicholas Frank and middle-blocker Michael McGuinness, who have both found roles outside of their normal positions. The pair each contributed seven kills with one block.
“I’m just glad to be given the opportunity to block and swing instead of just setting,” said Frank, who plays outside of his small frame and made impacts on both the block and attack on Thursday. “It gives me a whole new perspective of the game and I’m better when I gain that new perspective.”
“I haven’t played middle in a while but I’ve just tried to not be afraid to ask questions and try to learn as much as I can,” added McGuinness. “When I’m playing opposite usually I just have to pay attention to half of the court, so having to pay attention to both sides [from the middle] has been a little adjustment.”
The win marks a sweep for Long Beach Poly in their two matchups against Millikan this year, which is a key difference in their results compared to last season. Last year, the Jackrabbits finished 10-2 in the Moore League, dropping into second place behind Wilson after splitting games against both Millikan and Wilson.
Davidson attributes a lot of the difference from last year to the team’s overall culture, which is again thanks to the large senior class. Davidson calls his seniors his “covid kids” since they’re the first freshmen to enter the program following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These 12 kids have been together for three to four years trying to build our culture,” he said. “The culture definitely does help, and these guys have a strong bond together. We know that these guys are the ones that establish our programs. We have role players, and these role players understand what their roles are. We throw those guys on the court and we don’t skip a beat.”
Despite the loss for Millikan, the Rams had a pair of bright spots in juniors Kobe Magdael and Evan Crucil Chambers. Magdael racked up a game-high 14 kills meanwhile Chambers had eight.
“Both of those guys can ball,” said Millikan coach Matthew Johnson. “When they’re being confident and leading us, especially when we’re in system, who can hang with them? But there are a couple things we need to clean up and we have to get fixed before we [return to league play] against Jordan.”
Millikan now sits at fifth place in the Moore League and have ended up on the wrong end of a handful of tough battles against league opponents. Entering Thursday night’s matchup, the Rams had fallen to each of those top tour teams in four five-set matches.
“We just haven’t done enough at the right time to finish these matches. A lot of that has to do with newness,” he said. “We’re young. But some of it is just the confidence that we need. There’s things that we can do and have the ability to do, but we’re not consistent enough yet with or don’t have the confidence to do.”
Millikan will look to turn things around with a matchup at Jordan on Tuesday, while Long Beach Poly will have a potential first-place matchup at Wilson on Thursday.
