PREP NOTES : Leuzinger Soars to New Heights in Volleyball

Here are several facts you might not know about the Leuzinger High boys’ volleyball team:

* First-year Coach Freddy Lilomaiava, 21, never coached a boys’ team before this season.

* Four of the Olympians’ six starters stand 5-foot-7.

* Four starters are Vietnamese, two Latino.

* Leuzinger brings a 12-match winning streak into the first round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs Friday night.

If the last fact comes as a surprise, you’re not alone.

“I didn’t really think they were going to play this well,” Lilomaiava said of his players. “The whole school is amazed.”

Never known as a volleyball school, Leuzinger raised eyebrows from Santa Monica to Rolling Hills by posting a 13-1 Bay League record en route to its first league championship in the sport.

The question, of course, is how did the Olympians do it?

“They’re scrappers,” said Athletic Director Steve Carnes. “I watched them against Rolling Hills, and they dug everything Rolling Hills could (hit) at them. They’re enthusiastic and they really play hard.”

Rolling Hills was favored to win the league title and held sole possession of first place until April 17, when Leuzinger rallied from a two-game deficit for a 7-15, 10-15, 15-6, 15-10, 15-11 victory at home. When Rolling Hills was later beaten by third-place Santa Monica, Leuzinger moved into first.

The Olympians, who haven’t lost since dropping their second league match to Rolling Hills in March, will play the winner of a wild-card match between Newport Harbor and El Toro at 7:30 Friday night in the first round of the 4-A playoffs at Leuzinger.

“Volleyball is not a major sport on this campus,” said Carnes, who is also Leuzinger’s football coach. “But I think more people are starting to take interest in the team. They’re fun to watch.”

However, it hasn’t all been fun and games for the Olympians’ young coach. Lilomaiava recalls, with a touch of irony, the resistance he encountered when he took over the program February.

“The kids here thought they knew about volleyball,” he said. “And they didn’t want anybody telling them how to play. I sat down and told them, ‘This is my team and I’m going to coach it. If you don’t like it, get the hell out.’ They all stayed.”

With that, Lilomaiava firmly established a chain of command that has been critical to the team’s surprising success.

The Olympians still have their differences, as evidenced by an emotional argument between players at practice Monday. But they have come to believe in Lilomaiava, a former player for UC Santa Barbara whose only previous coaching experience was as a girls assistant coach at Hueneme High in Oxnard.

“When I got here, I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said.

What he found was a team woefully lacking in height. The team’s returning outside hitters--seniors Hung Nguyen and Rive Mecedo--were 6-3 and 6-foot, respectively. But the remaining starters--seniors Hiep Tiup, Binh Nguyen and Tho Le and junior Cesar Mecedo--were all 5-7. (The Mecedos are brothers; the Nguyens are not related).

By comparison, Ocean League champion Mira Costa, the No. 1-seeded team in the 4-A playoffs, starts five players 6-3 or taller.

Lilomaiava, who is 5-9, said his players were more concerned than he was about the team’s lack of height.

“They wanted me to go around and find some tall kids on campus,” he said. “I told them volleyball is not height, it’s how you play. If you play smart, you can beat a tall person. I know we don’t have height on the block. The only way we can win is to play smart and play good defense.”

Lilomaiava shored up the team’s blocking by moving Hung Nguyen and Rive Mecedo from outside hitters to middle blockers. Nguyen, a three-year varsity starter, is the team’s best hitter, while Mecedo is considered the best blocker.

The remaining starters--outside hitters Binh Nguyen and Le, and setters Tiup and Cesar Mecedo--are strong all-around players who use their quickness and low centers of gravity to excel as back-row defensive specialists.

It adds up to a winning combination for Leuzinger, the new kid on the block in South Bay volleyball.

Lilomaiava was a student assistant coach at Hueneme High in 1986, the year the girls’ volleyball team captured the State Division I title with a dramatic five-game upset over heavily favored Mira Costa at Cal State Fullerton.

One of Hueneme’s standout players was Keri Pier, whose brother, Ross, plays for Rolling Hills.

“I was surprised when I saw him,” Lilomaiava said. “I think he’s the top player in the whole league. As a complete player, he’s tremendous.”

Ross Pier, a 5-9 setter, signed with UCLA.

When it was time for Keri Pier to pick a college, she selected the site of her greatest high school match. She now plays for Cal State Fullerton.

Rolling Hills, which has played its best baseball when it has counted the most this season, remained in the driver’s seat for the Bay League title with an 8-2 victory Tuesday over visiting Palos Verdes.

Junior right-hander Kirt Kishita pitched a three-hitter to improve to 7-1 in league play and help the Titans stay in a first-place tie with Beverly Hills heading into today’s regular-season finales.

Rolling Hills (9-4) plays at Palos Verdes (7-6), while Beverly Hills (9-4) faces Torrance (8-5) at Torrance Park in 3 p.m. games. Santa Monica (7-6), which plays at Leuzinger, is also fighting for one of the league’s three spots in the Southern Section 5-A playoffs.

Former El Segundo baseball standout Jeremy Carr, a freshman center fielder for Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, has been named to the All-Western State Conference first team.

Carr, the left fielder on El Segundo’s 1989 Southern Section 2-A Division champion team, is batting .321 with an on-base percentage of .615. He led the conference with 16 stolen bases and was chosen the conference’s best defensive outfielder by the coaches.

Cuesta, which finished in a three-way tie for the Western State title with Moorpark and College of the Canyons, opens the regional playoffs Friday at Golden West of Huntington Beach.

Three South Bay girls are among the favored competitors heading into the Southern Section swimming and diving championships today through Saturday. All swimming competition will be held at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, while the diving will take place at the Industry Hills Sheraton Resort in the City of Industry.

In the 3-A Division, 1989 triple-winner Deborah Kory of Rolling Hills has qualified in the 100-yard butterfly (1:00.02) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.70). The prelims are 6 p.m. today, with the finals at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Sarah Marsh of Palos Verdes will compete in 3-A diving.

In the 2-A Division, Jessica Tong of Chadwick will defend her title in the 50 freestyle (24.38).

PREP NOTES--If Leuzinger and Mira Costa both win first-round matches Friday, they will meet in the quarterfinals of the 4-A volleyball playoffs May 18. Mira Costa opens against the winner of a wild-card match between Crespi of Encino and Dos Pueblos of Goleta. . . . Banning clinched the Pacific League baseball title Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over Carson, as junior right-hander Mike Busby (9-3) tossed a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts. It was the third consecutive loss for Carson, which was in first place most of the season and shooting for its first league crown since 1974. . . . Renee Ward pitched a five-hitter Tuesday to lead Rolling Hills past Torrance, 3-1, and into a first-place tie with the Tartars in the Bay League softball race. Rolling Hills (11-2) visits Palos Verdes and Torrance (11-2) plays host to Beverly Hills at 3 p.m. today in league finales. . . . Angelus League champion Bishop Montgomery plays host to Lakewood in the first round of the Southern Section 3-A volleyball playoffs Friday night. Miraleste, the Olympic League champion, is seeded third and has drawn a bye for the first round of the 2-A playoffs.