You would be hard pressed to find a closer four-set match than the Moore League battle last night between Poly and Wilson. CLICK HERE to watch the highlight video.
With the 18-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-23 win on the road, the Bruins are Moore League champions yet again for the seventh year in a row. However, the fact that it was senior night and the league title was still up in the air absolutely paled in comparison to the emotion between the lines after the tragic death of Wilson student/athlete Melody Ross.
This was the first head-to-head match up between the two schools since the shooting outside Wilson High after last week’s football game, and after the four-set victory the Bruins were not shy talking about their rollercoaster of a week.
“Obviously, with the league title and the last game for the seniors…” said captain Kellie Woolever after the match, trailing off. “We did this for Melody.”
“We went to the vigil last night, and I wasn’t sure it was a good idea the night before a match,” said Wilson coach Susan Pescar. “But then one of the girls said ‘that was so beautiful’ and it made us all smile to think she was watching it… so, it was nice to think she would be watching tonight. The season was dedicated to Diane Brown (late Wilson administrator) but this one was for Diane and Melody.”
It wasn’t as easy as a hug and a smile to get ready to play a very good Jackrabbit team, and Pescar talked about how the bus ride to Atlantic Ave was one of the quietest of the season.
“These girls are just so exhausted mentally and physically,” said Pescar of her team, and it showed in the first set when Poly jumped out to a 10-4 lead with stellar play at the net where they had nine blocks in the set, four of them solo. “I told them ‘it takes asking yourself to do something’ and they responded… Emily (Nanson) was crying all week, and she took out some aggression in the weekend matches, but I could see it in her tonight… I told her ‘get in there and do this, do this for your friend.’ And she did. They all did. I’m so proud of these girls, they really showed character tonight.”
In a back-and-forth second set, the Bruins closed it out on a 4-0 run with some help from Jackrabbit mistakes. Then, it was time for Nanson to listen to her coach. She started the third set and got in on two blocks while smashing four kills, including the set winner.
The Bruin seniors stepped up in the fourth set as Kellie Culbertson had 11 kills and three blocks, while the backline tandem of Jenna McNaney and Candace Nicholson combined for 36 digs. With the score 22-21 Wilson, Woolever (12 kills, 23 assists, 12 digs) put it off the block twice to put the Bruins up for good.
“They rely on experience and it showed tonight,” said Poly coach Leland McGrath-Quin. “We came out hot, but we need to learn that one good set is only the start… I don’t think we played a bad set, but (Wilson) is used to winning. They were a lot more comfortable… this is just a small increment on this teams path to being champions.”
Like it’s been all year, Poly was led by a host of juniors. Litara Keil had 13 kills, Sa Iosia tallied 14 kills, and Bria Russ led the way with 16 kills.
After all the emotion and pressure surrounding this final Moore League match of the season, McGrath-Quin put it all perfectly. One student said to another, “(Wilson) will roll in the playoffs, but they don’t want to see us again.”
McGrath-Quin smirked, “no one does.”
With Top Ten teams like Lakewood, Poly and Wilson charging into the CIF Playoffs, the Moore League will be more than well represented. Come back to LBPOSTsports.com this weekend for the playoff bracket.