If you were in the Ron Palmer Pavilion on Thursday evening, you witnessed a match two years in the making—for the last two seasons, Poly has been a young team with a sky-high potential. But even in their big wins, they haven’t put it all together—when they beat Lakewood this season, they went down two sets to none, then won the next three. They hadn’t played with consistent intensity and utilized their considerable offensive weapons throughout an entire match—until, that is, they blew the doors off their own gym in sweeping no. 8 Harvard-Westlake out of the second round of the CIF playoffs, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19.
The story was the same in all three sets—Poly and Harvard-Westlake proving that they both deserved to be top ten teams in CIF, and then Poly proving that they were a little better. In the first set, Harvard led 12-10, in the second Poly led 10-8, and Poly led by the same score in the third. The Rabbits finished those three sets 15-6, 15-11, and 15-12, thanks to a truly staggering offensive onslaught, and the precise setting of Rainette Uiato, who showed why she’s headed to Hawaii next year with 53 assists (that’s 53 of Poly’s 75 points).
“We watched the game film from the last time we played them,” said Uiato after the match. “And we were so flat—I thought our energy was great, completely different tonight.”
As usual, Bria Russ jumped out of the gym and came up with big kills when her team needed her to—she finished with 16 kills, as did Poly’s other biggest swing, Litara Keil, who continues to be uber-effective from the right side. Not only did she put up 16 kills and five blocks, but her defensive presence effectively quieted Harvard’s best hitter, who she blocked twice.
“We were definitely ready to go,” said Russ. “So ready—we really wanted to come out and play during the school day. It’s a relief to finally play this kind of match—but we’re not done yet. We’ve got to fight on Saturday.”
Saturday will see Poly, in a quarterfinal match for the first time in a while, hosting Newport Harbor, the CIF’s top seed, at 7pm. Poly coach Leland McGrath was already looking to that match as his team celebrated their victory, but he took a moment to acknowledge how significant Thursday’s win was for his team.
“We just clicked on all cylinders,” he said. “It was our most complete game for sure, probably of the last two years—they’re just getting more confidence, and they’re learning more too.” In addition to using all their offensive weapons (middle Sa Iosia was a dominant force, Uiato threw down six dump-shot kills, and Felicia Clemente and Zana Bowens both provided crucial boosts), Poly’s defense looked much improved from earlier in the year, as they dug up a lot of balls they haven’t in the past. Credit to libero Ally Moskitis, with 35 digs, for keying the improvement.
Keil, like her teammates and her coaches, was all smiles after the match. Referencing the first time they played Harvard (a sweep at Durango) but also their team’s progress to this point, she said, “We just didn’t look like ourselves. Today,” she said, with a huge grin, “We looked like us.” If that’s what this Poly team is going to look like from here on out, they may not be the ones who should be worried about this Saturday.