The562’s coverage of high school volleyball in 2024-2025 is brought to you by the MLP’s Bay Area Breakers.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
Tuesday evening in a sweltering Ron Palmer Pavilion was a special Senior Night for the Long Beach Poly girls’ volleyball team. The gym was packed for an evening that proved to be a celebration of the culture the Jackrabbits have built over the last two seasons under coach Gerald Aquiningoc. The Jackrabbits swept second-place Wilson and wrapped up an undefeated Moore League championship (Poly’s first since 2018) with the 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 victory.
Aquiningoc was complimented afterwards for the way the entire crowd and lower levels rallied around the program’s nine seniors. Recent alums came back as did a large showing of Poly families, fans, and staff from around the campus.
“That’s the one thing that I go home and lose sleep on, am I building a culture that people are proud of, people are excited and wanting to be a part of?” said Aquiningoc. “Sometimes I do doubt myself when we go through peaks and valleys. But seeing this here tonight just shows me that we’re in a really good place right now.”
The Jackrabbits played all nine seniors and got point-scoring plays from all of them in their final regular-season match.
“I’m really happy that everybody was able to participate tonight on the floor against a caliber of opponent like Wilson,” said Aquiningoc. “That’s a testament to trusting what they do at practice. Everyone came in and did their job.”
The Jackrabbits were in control of the match until a late Bruins challenge in the thor set, which saw Wilson lead 14-13 after a couple of big emotion plays from middle blocker Sarah Dotts. The Bruins retook the lead at 21-20 on a hitting error by Poly, but the Jackrabbits completed the sweep with kills by Layla Moore, Emma Holder, two Wilson errors, and a big kill from standout sophomore Cedra Talaga to end it, bringing the whole Poly team (including lower levels) onto the court to celebrate.
“This day was really special, especially after growing up with everyone here for four years,” said libero Sydney Mercado, who had 10 digs in the match. “From where the program was four years ago it’s been quite a growth, obviously.”
Senior Larissa Foster-Elisara had seven kills in the match including some big points late in the third. She said she was proud of how far the Poly program came over the last four years, winning a co-league championship last year and going 12-0 this season.
“We had a minor setback for a major comeback these last two years,” she said. “I love the diversity on this team, we’re the only team in our league that’s so diverse and that’s what makes us special. I’m really proud to be a part of this program.”
Poly and Wilson both now turn their attention to the postseason, where both teams will have strong chances to make a deep run, along with Millikan and Lakewood. It’s a new format this year where teams don’t find out what division they’re in until after the regular season concludes. With the rankings released by the CIF-SS on Monday, Poly is No. 41 (likely Division 3), Wilson is No. 53 (Division 4), Millikan is 117, and Lakewood is 136.
CIF-SS brackets will be released Saturday morning and we’ll have them posted live on The562.org.
