By Nathan Cambridge
The Review
When San Marino High and South Pasadena faced off in boys’ volleyball for the second time this season, a win for the Titans in the penultimate match of the Rio Hondo League campaign would give them the outright league title and a sweep of their rivals.
Needless to say, a lot was on the line.
South Pasadena forced a fifth game in the matchup and prevailed by, literally, the slimmest of margins for a 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 25-16, 16-14 win on April 11, momentarily spoiling the Titans’ title celebrations and moving into a tie for first place in the league standings.
It was a very different result than the first matchup, when San Marino hosted and swept South Pasadena on March 19.
“To be honest with you, I think the vibe [and] us seeing what our weaknesses were against them and bettering our defense,” said South Pasadena coach Ivy Chew of the difference between the two matches. “Yesterday’s practice, we were really focusing on how we need to defend against them. It definitely showed. Our first contact was definitely a lot better than we were last time. I think last time we made a lot more unforced errors on our end. I think this time around we were a lot more prepared to compete against them.”
San Marino can secure at least a share of the Rio Hondo League title with a road win against Monrovia in the season finale on April 18.
The Tigers, meanwhile, took care of Temple City, winning their final league match in four sets to seal at least a share of the Rio Hondo League crown. More details of that result will be featured in the next edition of the Review.
San Marino started game five by scoring the first three points, only to see the hosts score the next three. The game was tied at every point from three to eight before the Tigers pulled out to a 13-9 advantage. The Titans then went on a 4-0 run, starting with a kill on a tip shot from Casey Chan, the same from Ryan Wang, a Tiger hitting error and another kill from the outside by Chan to knot the game at 13-13. However, the next point went to the hosts following a bad pass by San Marino, bringing up a match point. Titan Luca Moggio made a block to tie the score again, but Tiger junior James Dowd finished things with back-to-back kills in the middle for the win. Dowd led the hosts with 21 kills.
“South Pas is always good. They are always ready to scrap and get the ball back over the net, and that’s exactly what they did today,” San Marino coach Tony Chou said. “It could have gone either which way.”
South Pas junior Martin Walsh finished with 11 kills, while junior teammate Jack Pellerin recorded nine kills. Sophomore Conan Lafferty produced seven kills and one ace, junior Jacob Chuang contributed four kills, and senior Ian Chang tallied three kills and one ace. Senior Isaiah Hyun chipped in one kill, while senior Nigel Mundara had one ace.
In game one, San Marino led early before South Pasadena took over. The Tigers went on a 4-0 run late, culminating in consecutive aces by Ryan Estanislao, to bring up game point at 24-18. The Tigers hit long after that but finished it off on the next point via a kill by Dowd.
In game two, the Titans came on late. The game was tied as late as 21-21 before San Marino scored the next three points starting with an ace by Ryan Lee. The hosts survived two game points before Chan finished it off with an emphatic kill from the outside on the right for the 25-23 win.
San Marino also took game three, with the Titan lead peaking at 22-16 after back-to-back kills from the outside by Chan and Ryan Wang. Chan had a kill for game point, attacking from the backline and landing the ball deep on the Tigers’ side of the court.
Game four was tied as late as 13-13 before South Pasadena pulled away. The hosts’ final margin of nine was the biggest of the game forcing the decisive fifth game.
SPHS (19-13 overall, 6-1 in league as of April 16) will host Camarillo for its regular-season finale on April 19 at 6:30 p.m. The CIF Southern Section playoff brackets will be released on April 20 at 11 a.m.
CRESCENTA VALLEY TOURNAMENT
The Tigers picked up a three-game victory over Marshall High of Los Angeles, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11, in their Crescenta Valley Tournament finale on April 13. Individual statistics were not reported to the Review.
South Pasadena swept Taft High of Woodland Hills, 25-17, 25-17, in a tournament match on April 13.
Chang registered 10 digs, nine assists and one kill, while Dowd finished with five kills, two digs and one block. Lafferty recorded four kills and three digs, while Chuang produced four kills, four digs and three blocks. Pellerin was credited with seven assists, three kills and two blocks, Walsh tallied six digs, three kills and two aces, and freshman Lorcan Swift contributed four digs, three kills and one ace. Freshman Liam Johnson had three blocks and two kills, while Hyun chipped in two kills and one dig. Sophomore Wyatt Morimoto-Woo collected three digs and two assists, Estanislao had two digs, and Mundara had one ace.
The Tigers lost to host Crescenta Valley High in three games, 26-24, 16-25, 13-15, in a tournament match on April 13.
Morimoto-Woo registered 13 digs and one assist, Walsh finished with 10 digs, three kills, one ace and one assist, and Mundara was credited with 10 assist and three digs. Lafferty recorded eight kills, four digs and two blocks, while Chang produced nine assists, two digs and one kill. Dowd contributed four kills, two digs, one block and one assist, while Pellerin chipped in four kills. Chuang tallied four blocks and three kills, while Hyun had two blocks and one kill.
SPHS swept Marshall High of Los Angeles, 25-23, 25-23, to end the first day of tournament play on April 12.
Lafferty contributed seven kills, six digs, one ace and one block, while Walsh finished with six kills, one block and one dig. Dowd registered four kills, four blocks and three digs, Pellerin tallied three kills, two blocks and one dig, Hyun chipped in three kills and one block, and Chuang recorded six blocks and one kill. Mundara was credited with 13 assists and three digs, while Chang produced nine assists, three digs, two aces and one kill. Estanislao collected 10 digs, while Morimoto-Woo had two digs.
South Pasadena swept Kennedy High of Granada Hills, 25-12, 25-21, in a tournament match on April 12.
Dowd contributed five kills, three blocks and one dig, Hyun finished with four kills, two digs and one block, and Swift chipped in four kills and one ace. Chang was credited with eight assists and six digs, while Mundara produced eight assists and one dig. Morimoto-Woo registered five digs and two kills, while Estanislao tallied three digs, two aces and two assists. Lafferty recorded two blocks, one kill and one dig, while Pellerin had two assists, one kill and one dig. Sophomore Kyle Kirchen collected one kill and one dig, Chuang and Walsh each had two kills, and Johnson had one kill.
The Tigers secured a three-game victory over Montebello, 25-14, 25-27, 15-10, in their tournament opener on April 12 as Dowd tallied eight kills, two digs, one block and one assist.
Lafferty recorded eight digs, four kills, one ace and one assist, Swift contributed four kills, three digs and one block, and Walsh finished with four kills, two aces and two digs. Johnson chipped in two kills, two blocks and two digs, while Chang was credited with four assists, three digs and one kill. Estanislao and Morimoto-Woo each collected nine digs, while Mundara registered nine assists, two aces and two digs. Pellerin produced six assists, three digs, two aces and one block, while Kirchen made two blocks. Chuang collected one kill and one block, while Hyun had one kill.
— Sebastian Moore contributed to this report.
First published in the April 19 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
