The562’s coverage of high school volleyball in 2025 is brought to you by the MLP’s Bay Area Breakers.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
The Long Beach Poly boys’ volleyball team took care of business Tuesday night in the Ron Palmer Pavilion, using a balanced offensive attack to knock off Windward in four sets in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs. The Jackrabbits won 26-24, 25-19, 18-25, 25-17.
“It’s their maturity,” said Poly coach Sidney Davidson of his team’s dominant win. “That’s all I can say is maturity. We talk about game situations and simulate that in our practice times, so it’s definitely been their maturity and just being patient.”
Setter Ryder Tuaolo racked up 52 assists on the night and spread the ball around to three different hitters in double-digit kills. Sophomore Nikkie Frank had a game-high 17 kills, while seniors Matt Tsao and KJ Hill and 15 and 11, respectively.
“We know we can’t do it by one person,” Davidson said. “We talk about our serve receive and how well we can run our offense when we’re in system. We have a lot of weapons. Even on the bench we try to go with whoever’s hot, and I just tell everyone to be ready.”
The Jackrabbits opened the first set on a 4-0 run and eventually fought off a late rally by the visitors to win the set in extra points. Frank chipped in a half-dozen of his kills in the first set, and credits a large group of upperclassmen for preparing him for the playoffs as one of the only underclassmen on the roster.
“They’ve been a huge support of me while helping me out and helping me develop throughout these games,” Frank said of his seniors. “Coming from frosh last year I just can’t be more grateful to be a part of this growing team on this path to win CIF.”
Fellow outside hitter Tsao has been one of those senior leaders for Frank, and reciprocated the appreciation back to his underclassmen.
“I really like the way the younger players stepped up and brought the energy which really means a lot to me,” Tsao said. “With it being a lot of our senior years, just knowing that it could be our last game ever I think that made us play with more intensity.”
After a dominant second set by Poly, Windward battled back in the third and led by as much as seven points in a lopsided period. The Jackrabbits returned the favor back in the fourth set with a lead as big as nine en route to the win.
“I’m definitely glad we got that lost set [in the third] out of the way so that way we can bounce back from these hard struggles when the momentum swings,” Frank said. “That just proves that we can go the distance and that we have longevity.”
With the competitive equity CIF playoff format, the Jackrabbits won’t have a second to breathe en route to a CIF-SS championship. After taking down the 28-7 Gold Coast League champions in Windward, Poly now turns its attention to San Marino, the 27-4 champions out of the Rio Hondo League. The Jackrabbits will host the Titans on Friday.
“One game at a time. Gotta take it one game at a time,” Davidson said. “Yes we want to look ahead but we know that if we want to do this all together there’s gonna be steps to it. We can’t jump from A to F, we gotta make sure we take our steps accordingly.”
