After splitting their first two meetings with Edison High (both in five sets), it was only fitting that the Los Alamitos High boys volleyball team would again go five sets with the Chargers in a third-place tiebreaker match last week. The Griffins battled back after losing the first two sets to win the match, 17-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-17, 15-5 at Fountain Valley High on Wednesday.
After losing the first set, the Griffins had set point in the second before the Chargers rallied to tie the set at 24-24 and eventually win it 29-27. The Griffins also fell behind in the third set, trailing by as much as 12-8 before regaining their momentum.
“We changed up our offense a little bit, we focused on the middle, which took some pressure off our outside (hitters),” Griffin coach Mike Whitcomb said.
The Griffins had a tip shot to the middle by Darren Chan to cut the lead to 12-9. After a mishit by Edison, Jonathan Frenzel had a kill on a short set to cut the lead to 12-11. Edison would take a 13-11 lead, but then misfire on a serve and two shots to allow the Griffins to take a 14-13 lead.
With Edison leading 18-16, the Griffins went on a 4-0 run to regain control. Frenzel and Adam Simonetti combined on a block for a point that gave the Griffins a 19-18 lead. Brian Beggs followed with a tap to the middle of the court to extend the lead to 20-18.
With the Griffins holding a 22-20 lead, they closed out the set with a 3-0 run. An Edison block came back but fell wide for the set point. After winning the third set, the Griffins carried their momentum into the fourth and fifth sets.
The Griffins jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set and kept the Chargers at bay for the rest of the set.
Likewise in the fifth set, the Griffins took control early and never let the Chargers challenge. Leading 6-5, the Griffins scored the final nine points to end the match. Simonetti had kill on a one-timer on an Edison overpass that put the Griffins up 12-5. Tony Klune had an ace server on the back line that put the Griffins up 13-5.
A kill by Jake Maffett put the Griffins at match point and Chan ended the match with a block that fell back in the middle of the Chargers court. Maffett led the Griffins with 12 kills and Brian Beggs had 10.
The Griffins secured the third place spot in the CIF-SS playoffs and were scheduled to play at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks on Tuesday night. A win would put the Griffin up against the winner between Tesoro and Servite on Thursday.
With the momentum of the rally against Edison and having played a tough preseason and league schedule, Whitcomb said he liked his team’s potential heading into the playoffs.
“I feel like we’re better than a third place team,” Whitcomb said.
