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.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
On a warm Thursday afternoon inside the Ron Palmer Pavilion, Long Beach Poly led for almost the entire match in a comfortable 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 Moore League victory over the visiting Wilson Bruins.
The host Jackrabbits had nine aces from six different players, keeping the Bruins out of system on their way to the sweep win.
“We played with purpose, because that was one of the things we talked about at the beginning of the match. We haven’t been playing with intent,” said Poly head coach Sid Davidson of his team’s performance. “We wanted to make sure we had a faster start. We definitely had to put a lot of service pressure on, and it kind of helped us out that we did, and then we wanted to execute.”
That service pressure was led by Poly setter Josiah Walton, who had a match-high three aces for the Jackrabbits. He also added a pair of kills, three blocks (one solo) and spread the ball around effectively. Poly had four hitters with at least seven kills.
“Poise,” said Davidson on what he saw from Walton on Thursday. “He’s young, he’s only a sophomore, so he’s definitely going to be our future, it’s just about keeping him balanced … I kept telling him, ‘Hey, we’ve got to feed this guy. Let’s make sure we’re doing this.’ And I’m trying to tell him, ‘Don’t force things.’ That was the main thing, let’s just not force things. He’ll be fine.”
Nikki Frank led the attack with a match-high 14 kills, while Wyatt Sheetz added a dozen. Sophomore Josiah Hill added nine kills, an ace, and a pair of blocks, while freshman Shelton Diggs III had seven kills and two aces for the Jackrabbits.
The Bruins used their height at the net to hold an edge in blocking. Wilson had a total of nine blocks as a team, led by four from setter Mathias Espiritu, including a pair of solo roofs. Junior Carson Kollin had four kills and three blocks for the Bruins.
Poly jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the opening set to put Wilson in an early hole. Despite a 7-1 run for the visitors, the Jackrabbits had plenty of leash in order to close out the set. The last two sets were competitive in the early stages, but Poly went on a key scoring run in the middle stages of each game to secure the sweep.
Both teams will be back in action next Tuesday with Wilson hosting Jordan. Meanwhile, Long Beach Poly will have a big showdown at Millikan with first place in the Moore League on the line. Both teams are currently unbeaten in league play and the Rams also sport an impressive 19-1 record, winners of 12 matches in a row.
