Sage Hill surges into second straight boys’ volleyball final

Sage Hill hadn’t had a storied history in boys’ volleyball when it swept in and claimed the program’s first CIF Southern Section championship last year.

It will have a chance to add to the trophy case this weekend, but it took a lot of improvement in the second half of the season and a bit of luck for the Lightning to get the opportunity to find out if they could indeed strike twice in the CIF finals.

Deep into the spring, Sage Hill was still trying to find itself, buried behind the eight-ball from a slow start that had as much to do with who wasn’t on the floor as anything else.

Jackson Cryst, named the CIF Division 5 Player of the Year in the Newport Coast-based private school’s run to the title last season, was a late arrival because of yet another deep postseason run — this time on the basketball court.

The basketball season carried into the first week of March, as the Lightning reached the Division 3AA section final with Cryst serving as their two-way difference-maker at center. Sage Hill lost the title game to Palmdale Knight, then made a first-round exit in the regional playoffs.

Even the return of Cryst, who had an eye-popping 54 kills against San Marino in the Division 5 championship game a year ago, didn’t spell immediate success for the Lightning. A five-game losing streak to open the season had made it an uphill battle. Struggles within the Pacific Coast League only added to the pressure.

Sage Hill’s 11-11 record with a week remaining in the regular season had its playoff hopes teetering, the standard of a .500 record or better for at-large qualifier consideration very much in play.

All the Lightning have done since then is rattle off seven wins in a row, including a five-set win to kick it off versus Portola on April 17.

Junior outside hitter Ryan Manesh described the agonizing moment of the team waiting on the release of the playoff brackets to find out if their season would continue.

“We knew that we had to [get] the wildcard,” Manesh said. “I was actually on the CIF Southern Section Instagram page. I knew that the brackets would come out that day, so I was like refreshing, refreshing, and then I saw it popped up. … I saw we were in the bracket, and as soon as I saw it, I sent it to the group chat, and then we all got super pumped.”

The Lightning were “hungry to repeat” as CIF champions, Manesh said, and with a straight-sets win over visiting Crean Lutheran on May 10, Sage Hill earned a spot in the Division 4 final.

Sage Hill (18-11) will travel to Santa Barbara (20-10) for the championship game, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“There was an ‘aha moment,’ I think, really at that Portola game, where it’s like, ‘We’re back.’ We’re still the same team that won CIF last year, but even better — different tools,” Cryst said. “It just took time to find it, so it didn’t feel like, ‘Oh, we have to win this game, and this game, and this game.’ Every game, we’re finding something new. Every game, we’re developing and becoming tighter knit as a team.”

Cryst has committed to continue playing in college at Long Beach State, which beat UCLA to win the Division I national championship on Monday. The senior outside hitter said he watched Long Beach State take down Pepperdine to advance to the title game on Saturday, before stepping onto the court for the Lightning’s semifinal against the Saints. He was taking notes.

“Something I’ve learned from [Long Beach State coach] Alan Knipe, he actually said it in his press conference before the semifinal, you don’t want to peak at the beginning,” Cryst said after the win over Crean Lutheran. “You want to be able to play your best volleyball at the end, and I think that’s what we’re doing. I think every game it’s getting better. I think [the Saints] were pretty similar to [Simi Valley] Royal, who we just played on the road, except this time, we swept them instead of winning in five [sets], so I think we’re on a really good trajectory.”

Cryst provided 20 kills and three service aces in a 25-21, 26-24, 25-18 win over Crean Lutheran. Manesh tacked on 13 kills, including the match-clinching blast from the right pin.

The Lightning have found their form under the tutelage of first-year coach Jordan Hoppe, a Wisconsin transplant who competed locally at Concordia University in Irvine.

Hoppe also addressed the quarterfinals win at Royal, calling the feeling “amazing” to emerge victorious in the fifth set.

“Our hearts were racing,” Hoppe commented. “You could tell it was very tangible in the gym, just being an away crowd. We just knew the stakes. Funny enough, Dylan Han, our right side [who] played libero last year, he steps up and makes two just absolutely icing-the-cake blocks. … That’s the stuff you hope for when you have a team, [for] guys to step up and make those moments happen.”

Manesh shared his thoughts on where the Lightning have improved with Hoppe at the helm.

“I think one thing that he’s completely changed this year is our offense,” Manesh said of Hoppe. “He’s taught us to run quicker balls, and that faster offense has given us one-up [or] no-up blocks, and that’s allowed us to play at a way higher level than we did last year.”

Connor Gapp, a pin hitter during the title run last year, took on setting duties this season. The versatile junior contributed 23 assists, six kills and two block assists.

“I’m used to being on the right side, I play beach a lot, so my hands are good enough to set,” Gapp said. “I decided to put my head down and learn how to set, so I could end up helping set this season. It’s where I needed to be, so I could help our team the most. … It’s hard to adjust and learn a new position in such a short time. That’s maybe why we were losing a lot of the games at the start. … It ended up being fun.”

Junior Jonathan Ye also distributed 15 assists to go with two aces, his contributions affording the Lightning the opportunity to keep Gapp available as a hitting option in a few rotations. Han had four kills and a solo block, Carson Ellis totaled 2½ blocks, Justin Liu registered 1½ blocks, and Ethan McNutt supplied a pair of aces.

“I didn’t have a lot of time with the guys to really develop and form the culture that we’re forming,” Hoppe said. “Now that we kind of are going, it’s going good, and it’s just only getting better and better.”