Harvard Slam-Dunks Alemany in League Volleyball Opener

MISSION HILLS — Right after the Harvard-Westlake boys’ volleyball team finished its Mission League opener against Alemany, the Wolverines erupted in a slam-dunk contest on the basketball rims at Alemany High.

“Hey, let’s get out of here,” Wolverine Coach Jess Quiroz said to his team. “Everybody knows you can dunk.”

Well, at least those who saw the Wolverines dunk the Indians in the third game of a 15-11, 17-15, 15-3 victory know they can.

And dink. And block and, as they did 51 times, kill.

The first two games were not quite as easy for the Wolverines (3-0).

They were up, 13-8, in the first game before fending off a late rally by the Indians (1-3) and came back from a 14-9 deficit in the second .

“Being down, 14-9, was a wake-up call,” said Wolverine blocker Warren Berkey, who had an ace, two blocks and two kills in the third game.

The Wolverines fell behind, 6-2, in the second game before pulling even at 9-9. But Harvard hit four consecutive kill attempts out of bounds on Alemany serves.

With the score at 13-9, Quiroz called a timeout.

“I told them to stop acting cool and play steady,” he said. “They wanted to impress, but I told them they have to play.”

Wolverine outside hitter Rick Rauth responded with five of his 24 kills, including the game-winner.

Alemany Coach Jaime Quaglino knew the match was over after his team dropped the second game.

“We lost our focus,” he said. “Any time you have a team like them down you have to smell the blood and go after it.”