Crescenta Valley boys’ volleyball wins wild one in five over Long Beach Poly
LA CRESCENTA — Crescenta Valley High’s boys’ volleyball team received a wild card berth into the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. That award for a season well-played meant the Falcons had a chance to keep their season going if they could overcome Long Beach Poly.
It was a rough beginning for the host Falcons, but then everything changed and Crescenta Valley took control, winning the final three games to pull out a 24-26, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 15-10 victory on Saturday.
“[My guys] just always acted like they thought they could win,” CV coach John Nelson said. “They maybe got over the playoff jitters a little bit and I’m proud of them.”
Crescenta Valley (19-11) took control of the fifth and decisive game when consecutive kills by Falcon Chad Wilson put the hosts ahead 8-6. The Falcons held Long Beach Poly (11-16) off the rest of the way. Falcon Andrew Boyle came to the service line to finish off the comeback and did so in style. The sophomore’s serve climbed up the tape atop the net and dropped over to the floor below, giving the Falcons a 15-10 win and a ticket to the first round on Tuesday.
“A little bit of luck,” Boyle said of his game-winning ace. “I was trying to serve short and end on a big ace, and I guess I did.”
After dropping the first two games to the visiting Jackrabbits by the slimmest of margins, the tone completely changed. Whatever magic Long Beach Poly had went away and Crescenta Valley comfortably won the next three games against the fourth-place team out of the Moore League.
“[They were] a little nervous at the start and it took a while to settle down,” Nelson said of his team. “That’s probably it because it was hard to keep them calm before the game.”
Game three was all Falcons. They held the advantage after an ace by Boyle broke a 2-2 tie and led the rest of the way. The advantage reached nine several times, before Ricky Phagoo and a group of friends blocked the Jackrabbits at the net to seal the game three win 25-16.
“When [my team] got going a little bit, then it was like, OK, we really can do this,” Nelson said. “It was fun.”
Game four was more of the same. After it was knotted at nine, the hosts outscored the visitors 16-7. Kim recorded an outside kill to bring up game point. Falcon Garo Barsemian then stepped to the service line and dropped an ace over the net to the middle of the court untouched by a Jackrabbit.
“We made a lot of unforced errors in the first and second sets and we gave them a lot of points,” Kim said. “They just had this momentum going that we couldn’t stop [in the first two games]... That’s what changed: our motivation. The players were able to motivate each other on the court and push each other on the court to win the fifth.”
Crescenta Valley was led on offense by Phagoo with 20 kills. Boyle had 15. Wilson had 14 and Kim had 9.
Crescenta Valley lost the first two games, both in somewhat heartbreaking fashion. This was especially true in the opening game, which featured 13 ties. The Falcons had a game point at 24-22 following a kill by Phagoo. The ensuing point and the game seemed to go Crescenta Valley’s way when Wilson tipped the ball over for a winner. However, a hitting violation was called. Long Beach Poly then scored the next three points to take the opener.
Game two saw Crescenta Valley open up a six-point lead, but they were unable to hold it. CV’s Brenden Harvey got a kill off the block to tie the score at 23-23, but the Jackrabbits got the final two kills after that to complete their comeback and build a 2-0 lead.
Up next for Crescenta Valley will be on the road in the first round against third-seeded Bishop Montgomery, winners of the Del Rey league.