The Kennedy High boys volleyball team made enough plays when they had to, and held off Esperanza in a tight match, 23-25, 27-25, 25-20, 26-24, to capture the CIF-SS Division 5 Championship on Saturday at Cerritos College.
It was the second title for the program after the Fighting Irish won their first title in 2017. After letting a late lead slip away in the first set, the Irish settled down and swept the next three, needing extra points in two sets to close it out.
In the deciding fourth set, the Irish led 21-20 and 23-21 before the Aztecs battled back to get to set point at 24-23, when a Kennedy block went out of bounds. But the Aztecs miss hit on the next point to tie the set at 24-24. Sophomore setter Jason Narike then served two ace serves to close out the match.
Kennedy senior opposite hitter Logan Benda led the offense with 17 kills, while senior middle blocker Seth Sainz had 15 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kaiden Kim had seven kills and setters Jaden Baena had 19 assists and Jason Narike had contributed 16 assists.
Kennedy was missing a key piece of the team early in the season, with senior Sainz unavailable early in the season. Even upon his return, Sainz said the team struggled to gel. However, he noted that in early April the Irish found their stride in a sweep of Fullerton High and did not drop a match after that.
“We played them and then after that, everything clicked,” Sainz said.
Kennedy led the first set 23-21, but hit a long serve to give the Aztecs a side out. A long hit and double touch put Esperanza at set point and the closed out the first set when the Irish were whistled for another illegal hit.
Kenndy coach Travis Warner said the team had been prone to mistakes at times, despite their late season winning streak.
“When you play a team like Esperanza, that doesn’t make many errors, if you make errors, they’re gonna take advantage of them,” Warner said.
But Warner also said that this was the most athletic team he’s ever coached and he was confident they had the most talent every time they took the floor this year. He said the front row blocking was particularly tough for teams to contend with, especially when Sainz returned.
The Irish nearly let a 24-22 lead slip away in the second set when the Aztecs rallied to tie it 24-24.
But with the set tied 25-25, junior opposite hitter Derek Almazan tapped a finesse shot down the line to grab a 26-27 lead and Esperanza hit a shot long on the next rally and Kennedy took the set. The Irish pulled away late in the third to grab a 2-1 set lead, before closing out the match with a close fourth.
Kennedy received berth in the CIF State Tournament and opened on Tuesday at Taft High of Woodland Hills (past ENE deadline).