Boys volleyball defeated Peninsula on Thursday, coming off of a four-game winning streak. After a lengthy match, the Sea Hawks managed to fend off the Panthers in the fifth set.. Redondo currently stands second in the Bay League.
“I wouldn’t say they’re an easy opponent, but we knew that we had them beat in certain positions,” senior middle blocker Bobby Bennett said. “They have some really solid guys, and we knew that coming in. But ultimately we’re a better team than them.”
The boys won the first set 25-23, which was “closer than they were hoping to keep it,” according to junior middle blocker Vaughan Flaherty. After an intense couple of last points, they were able to take the set with kills by senior Drew Blair and junior Cash Essert.
“We can play [down] to teams sometimes and barely beat them, or play as good as we can and kill teams. We weren’t super happy after the first set, so we kicked it up a notch. We wanted to prove where we stand with them and what we can do against teams like that,” Bennett said.
After the close first set, Redondo crushed Peninsula 25-15 in the second set. The team was getting tough balls up and making plays off of them, and exhibiting a strong offense by directing hits to empty zones and getting kill after kill. Redondo went into the third set 2-0, needing one more set to close out the game.
“Peninsula did a good job game planning, they did a good job reading us. So during the third and the fourth set, they started to get into their groove. Their block and their defense started shifting to the spots that we were hitting, so we had to adjust to that,” Flaherty said.
Peninsula applied more pressure in the third set, and Redondo missed a couple of serves and sent some balls out, leading Peninsula to win by two points, 25-23. Peninsula is a “streaky team,” according to Bennett, and allowing them to get a couple point runs is what “cost [Redondo] the set.”
“They rely on energy and rely on momentum, their fans were getting rowdy. They were playing harder and playing with a lot more energy, and it led us to drop the third and fourth set,” Bennett said.
The fourth set was intense, with longer rallies as the boys fought hard to not go to a fifth set. Peninsula came with strong offense, and the Sea Hawks countered it with consistent passing and kills of their own. Despite Redondo’s defense, Peninsula won the fourth set 25-19.
“[Before the fifth set], we came to an understanding as a team that we had to put our egos aside, even after doing so well in the second set then barely losing the third and fourth,” Bennett said. “We had to come together and say ‘Hey, we can beat this team.’ The pressure was definitely on, we were the favorite team in that game, but they forced us to beat them instead of making mistakes and beating themselves.”
Redondo came out on top in the fifth set, winning 15-7 and clinching the game. The boys had strong serving runs, and were strategic with their offense, placing the ball before the ten-foot line and making Peninsula’s defense scramble.
“We really excel in the passing game, we have great outsides and a really good libero. We have a lot of height with our middle blockers and opposites, so that’s really helpful with blocking and hitting in system,” Flaherty said. “We need to get better at staying mentally focused so teams don’t catch up to us, and keeping our opponents in tough spots.”
After a tough loss to Mira Costa on Friday, the boys are focused on their upcoming games against El Segundo, South and then Huntington Beach on the 22nd, who they have already lost to this season. As far as broader season goals, they’re looking to defend their title as CIF state champions.
“We won state last year, and we have a lot of guys returning,” Bennett said. “We’ve gotten a lot deeper, we’ve had people stepping up in practice. I think with these high-level practices and the team chemistry getting so much better, we can have a CIF win.”
