The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The Long Beach Poly girls’ volleyball team hit the road for a 200+ mile trip to open up the CIF State Division 1 playoffs. The Jackrabbits (29-10) are coming home victorious after upsetting No. 8-seeded San Luis Obispo in their gym, blitzing the Tigers with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-13 sweep.
One thing that stood out for the Jackrabbits was that even so far from home, their large crowd once again showed up, and the road gym rang with Poly cheers as the Jackrabbits advanced.
“Our fans are amazing, we had a representative from every family on our team and many with more than one,” said Poly coach Gerald Aquiningoc. “For so many people to make the trip, we’re super appreciative of how supportive everyone is.”
It didn’t look like it would be a happy visit for the Jackrabbits to start the match, as they fell behind 21-13. Aquiningoc called a timeout and encouraged his team to reset and refocus, telling them there wasn’t anything special that SLO was doing, Poly was just playing out of sorts.
The Jackrabbits responded, with long service runs from Kennah Iamaleava and Hannah Ballungay to lead a remarkable 12-1 run that gave the Jackrabbits the opening frame.
“Kennah had a long service run that got us back in the game and then Hannah put us over the top,” said Aquiningoc.’
The Jackrabbits also got great play from right side Aleeya Salima, as well as Cika Talaga according to Aquiningoc.
The Jackrabbits were led by Iamaleava’s 15 kills, three aces, two digs and one block. They also got six kills from Talaga along with 11 digs, four kills on .571 hitting from Salima, and 10 digs with a pair of aces from Ballangay. Middles Dayna Lagafuaina and Allison Wetteland combined for six kills and a block. Setters Lauren Foster and Ballangay combined for 28 assists.
Aquiningoc said the layoff between Poly’s CIF-SS Division 2 semifinal loss and their CIF State Division 1 playoff-opening win gave he and his team some time to reflect.
“We were talking about it at practice on Monday, the word I had was just ‘proud,’” said Aquiningoc. “Everything that happened this season, to get to a semifinal in Division 2 in CIF Southern Section, to win a Division 1 state playoff match…wow. When we took over a few years ago we were Division 4, and me and (assistant coach Sonya Saolotoga-Talaga) had a goal to get to Division 1, and for us to do that on year three–we’re just proud of this group. These girls work so hard and they take pride in being a Jackrabbit.”
The road gets even harder for Poly as the Jackrabbits travel to Harvard-Westlake, the No. 1 seed in the bracket, on Thursday evening for a second-round match.
