The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
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 Moore League boys’ volleyball carousel has been in full swing over the last few years, and it just might finally be Millikan’s turn.
It’s the first time in a while that Millikan has entered a season with the most returning talent, and the Rams leaned on that experience against defending Moore League champion Long Beach Poly on Tuesday. The Rams used their depth to stay in control during the battle of unbeatens, eventually fighting off five set points in the third to secure the sweep, 25-15, 25-23, 30-28.
“It’s been back and forth with them the last few years, so winning against them isn’t necessarily foreign,” said Millikan coach Matthew Johnson. “They had a solid team last year and we were still building. They graduated a lot of their guys, like most of the league, and now we’ve got our group back with just one starter gone. We’ve got a couple of moving pieces, but we feel stronger this year and this is the type of result we’ve been playing for.”
The maturity of Millikan’s experienced roster was on full display in the third set, even after a 4-0 Poly run gave the Jackrabbits set point at 24-21. From there, Millikan responded with four straight points to fight off as many set points, then fought off another at 26-25. The Rams then earned three match points of their own before putting it away 30-28.
“I don’t think they ever thought we were going to lose that,” Johnson said of the third set. “Last year, you’d see our faces turn when it got close. I did see some frustration, which we fixed during the timeout, and as soon as they went back out there they did what they knew how to do. So the confidence is there—the skill is obviously there—it’s just a matter of doing what we know we can do each time and believing it as we play.”
Millikan was able to flex its depth throughout the match, with eight different players recording multiple kills. Part of that comes from Millikan’s new 6-2 offense, where Johnson has freed up freshman Alex Orbiso and junior Noble Pagulayan to evenly distribute the ball.
Both setters found their middles early, as Andre Medina had six kills on a match-high .750 hitting, while Evan Crucil-Chambers chipped in five kills on .333 hitting. Senior outside hitter Jake Karkanen finished with 12 kills on .435 hitting, while fellow pin-hitter Kobe Magdael led the match with 15 kills while hitting .385.
After the match, Magdael reflected on the growth of his team in his senior year. The Rams narrowly lost to Poly almost exactly a year ago in five sets in the same gym, and now have defeated the Jackrabbits to sit atop the Moore League standings near the midway point of the season.
“We played a lot of five set games last year and lost a lot of them, so I feel like this game showed a lot of our improvement,” Magdael said. “Even when we were down, it was a little rough, but I’m glad we pulled through and I feel like that showed the type of team that we are this year.”
Millikan controlled the early action, opening the first set on a 10-3 run and forcing a pair of Poly timeouts. The Rams then used a 6-1 run midway through the set to take a double-digit lead, anchored by a pair of kills from Magdael.
The teams traded points in the second set, though Millikan held a lead as large as four for the majority of it. They traded 10 points back and forth midway through the set before a 4-1 Poly run brought the Jackrabbits within one at 21-20. Millikan then narrowly closed it out on a 4-3 run to take a two-set lead.
Poly had its most promising set in the third, as the Jackrabbits opened on a 5-2 run before falling back as Millikan took a 15-12 lead. From there, Poly went on a four-point run to regain the lead and held it until Millikan went back in front at 26-25. The Rams then closed it out eight points later to hand Poly its first Moore League loss of the season.
Sophomore middle Josiah Hill led Poly with nine kills and three blocks, while freshman Shelton Diggs III had eight kills and eight digs. The Jackrabbits will look to rebound as they travel to face Jordan on Thursday and will rematch Millikan to end the season on April 22.
“Millikan is good, very physical and they pass very well to keep their players in system,” credited Poly coach Sidney Davidson after the game. “We need to learn from this loss and hopefully respond better the next time we play them.”
For Millikan, the Rams have now won 30 straight sets and will look to keep their momentum going as they host Compton on Thursday.
