By Ryan Nakamura
Staff Writer
Boys’ varsity volleyball completed a three-set shutout against Gabrielino High School, away, with sets scores at 25-16, 25-17 and 25-18. The Tigers now improve to an 8-4 overall record along with a 1-0 record in Rio Hondo League.
South Pas was determined to begin its first league game on a high note, and this proved to be the case when sophomore Cole Schroeder started the game with an ace. Senior Greg Luck would fuel this momentum with a monster block against the Gabrielino hitter in the following play. Luck would serve his first ace of the set to settle the score at 8-2 and force an Eagle timeout. Gabrielino would come back on the scoreboard with a four point run to put the score at 9-7. Both teams began to trade off points from each others errors and kills until junior Gunther Vaden intensified the Tigers offense with a powerful kill. From here, the Tigers would maintain an eight point deficit and cruise to their first set victory at 25-16.
South Pas would maintain its energy into the second set with another infamous kill from Luck. Two clutch digs by the Tiger defense would eventually set up junior Matt Scholtz for a perfectly timed block on the Gabrielino hitters to set the score at 6-2. Two aces from Luck and junior Joseph Bu kept the Eagles’ defense at bay at a score of 10-5 and allow the Tigers to keep up its momentum in the set. Senior libero Alex Nakagawa tallied up a kill of his own to retain South Pasadena’s dominance on the court and finish the set with a score of 25-17.
Heading into the third set, South Pas began to struggle earning points. Easy kills along with crucial errors by the Tigers allowed Gabrielino to develope a quick lead over South Pas. Luck would once again step up for the Tigers with important kills to help close off the third and final set at a score of 25-18
“We hope that we continue winning games and starting each game off with consistent energy,” senior Matthew Ng said. “We played pretty consistent today which was shown by the score.”
The Tigers look to extend to a 2-0 league record in the team’s next matchup against San Marino High School at the Titans home court on Tuesday, March 29.
