Reporting from Glendale — Having seen a two-game lead vanish, the Glendale High boys’ volleyball team didn’t appear shocked.
There wasn’t any time for Glendale to panic against a determined Providence squad that refused to yield.
Glendale turned to its 1-2 tandem of William Phan and Pat Sungkamee, who teamed for seven kills in the final game to propel host Glendale to a 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 27-29, 15-12 nonleague win Wednesday.
Glendale (4-2) saw Providence (4-2) fight off four match points to win the fourth game, forcing the Nitros to regroup quickly.
Join the conversation on Facebook »
“The momentum throughout the match seemed to be going in different directions,” Glendale first-year Coach Andrew Cheng said. “We had to get to playing the way we practice and that’s by letting the setter make good sets and the hitters doing their jobs. We were able to get that done in the last game and we had done that the first two games.
“We made a lot of errors in the third and fourth games and they caught us. We had William and Pat come up big in the last game when we needed them to.”
1/19
Providence’s Carl Menke reaches for the block as Glendale’s Pat Sungkamee hits a kill into the top of the net in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
2/19
Glendale’s Wiliiam Phan hits a kill against Providence in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
3/19
Glendale’s Albert Belekjian hits a kill with Providence’s Michael Zwart reaching for the block in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
4/19
Glendale’s Derrick Zafra hits a kill against Providence’s Gerald Martin in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
5/19
Glendale’s Pat Sungkamee reaches for a block as Providence’s Kenneth DelaRosa hits a kill in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
6/19
Glendale’s Pat Sungkamee gets a touch on the ball and hits it over the net against Providence in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
7/19
Providence’s head coach Nicole Broulliard during the match against Glendale in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
8/19
Glendale’s Julian Mabunay sets the ball against Providence in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
9/19
Providence’s head coach Nicole Broulliard works with her team between points against Glendale in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
10/19
Glendale’s head coach Andy Cheng smiles with his team in the lead against Providence in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
11/19
Glendale’s head coach Andy Cheng during the game against Providence in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
12/19
Providence’s Carl Menke hits a kill against Glendale in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
13/19
Providence’s Liam Manham hits a Glendale serve into play in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
14/19
Providence’s libber Westin Tengan hits a Glendale serve into play in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
15/19
Glendale’s Joshua Nguyen hits a Providence serve into play in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
16/19
Providence’s Enrico Avambulo reaches back to keep the ball in play against Glendale in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
17/19
Glendale’s libero Christian Maylad gets to the ball to hit it into play against Providence in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
18/19
Providence’s Josh Mayor hits a Glendale serve into play in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
19/19
Providence’s Zack Hurst hits the ball into play, setting up a kill against Glendale in a non-league boys’ volleyball match at Glendale High School on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
Providence has begun a new chapter in the program’s history, turning the coaching responsibilities over to Nicole Broullaird.
Broullaird said the Pioneers showed resilience coming back from a two-game deficit.
“We lost those first two games and then we gave ourselves a chance to win three straight games,” Broullaird said. “It’s very hard to win three straight games, but we nearly pulled it off.
“I think our guys did a much better job of communicating in the last three games and we had a run of points that helped. We’ve made some changes in the lineup the last couple of weeks and we are starting to come together.”
After winning a topsy-turvy fourth game, Providence saw Glendale jump out to an 8-3 lead in the fifth game on a kill by Phan, a junior outside hitter. A kill by Sungkamee made it 10-4.
The Pioneers, who qualified for the playoffs last season, then pulled to within 14-12 on a hitting error before Phan closed out the two-hour match with a kill down the left side.
“We were up 2-0 and then they take the next two,” said Phan, who had 15 kills. “We weren’t about to get down on ourselves because we still had a chance.
“It’s a confidence boost in getting the win and now we’ll move forward.”
Providence trailed, 24-22, in the fourth game before rallying to tie it at 24. The Nitros took a 25-24 lead before the Pioneers made it 25-25. A kill by Providence’s Patrick Cosella (18 total kills) tied it at 26. Glendale knotted it at 27 before Providence collected the next two points. Cosella got the final kill of the game to tie it at two games apiece.
In the third game, Cosella registered a kill to give Providence a 23-20 advantage. The Nitros trimmed the deficit to 23-22, but the Pioneers got a kill from Michael Swary and an ace from Josh Mayor to seal the third game.
Glendale led throughout the second game, jumping out to a 13-11 lead on a kill by Sungkamee, who finished with 11 kills and four blocks. Sungkamee then had a kill to finish the second game.
Glendale staged a comeback in the first game. Providence grabbed an 18-9 lead on an ace by Kenneth De La Rosa., forcing Glendale to call timeout.
The Nitros responded with a rally of their own, closing to within 22-21. A kill by Cosella gave Providence a 23-21 lead. Glendale then finished up on a 4-0 run to complete the comeback.
charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
