Poly faced their biggest Moore League contenders last week, playing Lakewood, Wilson and Millikan.
During their last encounter, Lakewood’s Storm Faagata gave Poly a hard time. But Poly was able to grab the win in a close 3-2 set game.
From the first serve, the game was tense and the pressure was felt throughout the whole gym. The Jackrabbits were able to grab the first set with a two point lead, 25-23. The boys would also get the second set and looked to get a three set sweep. But Faagata would lead the Lancers to get the third set with 27-25 as the score. In the fourth set, Poly would come to end the game.
This game was slightly different from Poly’s 3-1 win back in March. Unlike the first game, the Jackrabbits found more success in controlling the game. With new strategies and an improved defense, the Jackrabbits were able to combat the Lancers and their top player Faagata.
“We’ve been practicing the whole week under conditions where Storm would get the ball,” said Senior Ricky Ah-Hong. “It seems it paid off because we won the game with the same play. It seemed as though it was fate.”
Two days before Lakewood, the Jacrabbits vistied Wilson on April 8. This was also Senior Appreciation Night where seniors Ricky Ah-Hong, Adrian Carillo, Daniel Deng and Jacob Moore were honored for their final season as a Poly Jackrabbit.
After the ceremony and the Star-Spangled Banner sang by Poly’s Charles Aoga, the match began.
Facing another tough opponent in the Bruins, the Jackrabbits were determined to pursue their goals of winning Moore League. The boys ended the match fairly quick in a 3 set win. In all three sets, the Jackrabbits won with ten point advantage.
On Thursday, April 3, Poly played dominated over Millikan just as they dominated Wilson. The boys came out with a 3 set win over the Rams.
On April 1, the boys got a 3 set win over Jordan, adding to their Moore League victories.
“We’ve already beaten these teams before but we still need to play them again,” said coach Keli Pula. “Afterwards we’ll just focus on CIF.”
Countless hours of practice have paid off for the Jackrabbits, for they are currently first in the Moore League.
The Jackrabbits then played Cabrillo on April 15 and Jordan on April 17 for their final Moore League games. These games were unable to be reported on due to press time constraints. Although the boys have already beaten both teams before, they are still humble about their achievements.
Leave a Reply