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There was plenty of adversity to overcome for everyone involved with the Millikan and Wilson girls’ volleyball game on Thursday.
A hot gym, an early deficit, long injury delays, stoppages for scoring miscues and five hard-fought sets weren’t enough to stop the Bruins from coming back and coming away with a victory against the Rams.
Millikan took the first two sets with relative ease before Wilson pulled on the reverse sweep in a 15-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-8 Moore League win.
“It’s a big Moore League game with emotions running high, and it’s all about how we manage the mind game for us this season,” Wilson coach Chris Ceballos said. “Once we got out of our heads and stopped putting so much emphasis on every single point and screaming at each other on the court, and settled down a little bit, we got in a rhythm, got more comfortable and started executing.”
Sophomore Simrin Adams had a match-high 21 kills and 10 of those came in the last two sets. Adams admitted that it took her awhile to get going, and chuckled when asked about her extra hard swings down the stretch.
“In the beginning I was definitely not on my game, but towards the end when I’m getting that fire and energy and I just have nothing to lose…. I just go for it,” she said.
It was Kate VanderWal’s move from right side to middle that opened up the Wilson offense and allowed Adams to get loose. VanderWal had nine kills.
“I think I was able to give (Simrin Adams) 1-on-1 with the blockers just by selling my route in the middle,” VanderWal said. “I think (setter Kirin Adams and I) have built a connection because I’ve played middle… so being able to go in there with more confidence and knowing that I’m going to put a ball away. Just having those opportunities gave everyone more confidence and let us build off of it.”
Millikan was by far the better team in the first two sets. Freshman Parker Brumbelow was a spark plug for the Rams with a team-high 14 kills. Millikan setter Lila Walters did a great job spreading the ball around as Sarah Thaut put down 11 kills and Aubrey Greene chipped in nine kills. Senior middle Cali Tirado finished with five kills and four blocks.
Service aces also played a big role in how Wilson got back into the game. The Bruins had 18 aces and 11 of them came after they fell behind 2-0 in the match. Millikan had eight aces.
The pivotal third set was close early until consecutive kills from S. Adams and VanderWal gave Wilson a 8-4 lead and forced a Millikan timeout. The Rams battled to stay close, but an ace from Peyton Agura quelled the run.
S. Adams came up with a kill and an ace late to secure the set victory 25-18. Wilson outscored Millikan 6-2 down the stretch in the third set.
“Before the (third) set started we all came together and we just said, ‘No matter what happens, we’re (going to play) together as a team, playing our hardest no matter the outcome and just supporting each other.’,” S. Adams said. “I think it really showed the next three sets.”
A string of Millikan miscues allowed Wilson to take a fourth set lead, but the Rams battled back to tie it 15-15 thanks to consecutive kills from Aubrey Greene and Thaut plus a black from Tirado.
After a Wilson timeout the Bruins went on a run, but Millikan got big blocks from Catalina Trautner to cut the lead to 20-19. The Bruins then played their best volleyball of the night to take the set 25-21.
Millikan lost libero Sophia Orbiso and Parker Brumbelow to injury in the later sets and Wilson took full advantage. The Bruins got huge swings from S. Adams to take an early five-set lead and then held on through lengthy injury and scorekeeping delays.
Coach Ceballos said his Bruins were better at handling the heat in the gym because they purposely practiced at 2 p.m. over the summer. The impetus of that came after a hot loss at Long Beach Poly last year.
“Our gym is obviously very hot, but we’re used to it now, just being able to work through the pressure and work through the heat,” VanderWal said.
On Tuesday, Wilson hosts Jordan while Millikan travels to Compton.
