The562’s coverage of high school volleyball in 2026 is brought to you by the MLP’s Bay Area Breakers.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
As the end of the season approaches with the playoffs on the horizon, the time is now for the Millikan girls’ volleyball team—and all teams, for that matter. Although the Rams and first-year head coach Gus Tuaniga still believe his team has another notch to reach, Millikan put together a promising sweep over Lakewood on Tuesday, dominating the Lancers, 25-10, 25-18, 25-18.
“We’re still trying to get there but we’re not there yet,” Tuaniga said after the game. “Our focus is still on service receive, and I think we’ve been a little too timid with letting services come to us. I still think we did a really good job against Lakewood. They’re a really athletic team and the girls did a really good job standing up to them.”
Millikan has already clinched second place in the Moore League with the win and was recently ranked No. 39 in the CIF Southern Section’s latest rankings, which came out Tuesday and would currently place the Rams in Division 2, one division higher than last year. The Rams’ lone loss this season came to Long Beach Poly, and the pair will face off in their regular-season finale next week.
The Rams were dominant in the first set against Lakewood on Tuesday, opening the set with an impressive 16-3 lead without looking back. Millikan then opened the second set with a 7-1 lead behind a service run that featured two aces from libero Parker Brumbelow, while helping the Rams stay in system on serve-receive to open up the offense for senior setter Lila Walters.
Walters did a great job spreading out the offense to her top hitters Natasha Willaert and Cheyenne Lander along with middle Paige Mundon, and was even effective as an attacker herself when she called her own number on dumps. Like any setter, Walters said after the game that she enjoyed having the freedom while setting in system.
“When they give me all the options with those passes it’s just really fun to get to play around,” Walters said. “It gives me a lot of creativity to be able to do all of that and play around with my hitters. I know they’re all able to put it away so it’s fun with everyone cheering to spread it around and give everyone the chance to get points.”
Lakewood had its best set in a third frame where the Lancers led for more than half of the set. Lakewood had help from a handful of Millikan errors but also built on the lead with kills from senior outside Jenna Smith and junior middle Aaryn Hunter, along with an ace from London Livesey, eventually taking a 16-13 lead midway through the set.
Tuaniga called a timeout midway through the set, which sparked an outburst from the Rams through the rest of the frame. Millikan responded with a 10-point run behind kills from Walters, Willaert and Lander, along with four aces from Addison Sandusky during that stretch. That run was part of a greater 12-2 run to close the set for Millikan and clinch the sweep.
“We like to get comfortable, and I think that comes with our mentality. I’m trying to push these girls to understand that there’s no time to relax,” Tuaniga said of the third-set woes. “A good athletic team like Lakewood can come back easily if we get comfortable, so that was the big thing. I saw our body language, and so I just had to get on them to play with more intent.”
The emphasis remains serve-receive for Tuaniga, as Millikan will close out the season at home against Wilson on Thursday before hosting Poly on Tuesday. The Rams will then gear up for the CIF-SS playoffs, which begin on Oct. 20.
“I think we just need to have confidence in ourselves,” Tuaniga said. “Last year was a tough year for Millikan. I think coming in, I noticed some timidness and hesitation, so I think it’s about giving these girls confidence and good, intentful practices. We just need to vibe out.”
“We just have to give it our all,” added Walters. “It’s senior year for a lot of us and there’s nothing to lose. For a lot of these girls, it’s going to be their last couple of games playing volleyball, so why not leave it all out on the court? That also comes with a lot of discipline and focus on the little things, so we just need to take care of that and finish off on a good note.”
Tuesday afternoon’s game served as the regular-season finale for Lakewood, which finished 3-5 in the Moore League with an 18-12 overall record. The Lancers can clinch a third-place finish with a Millikan win over Wilson on Thursday and currently sit as the No. 147 team in the section, which would land them as one of the top teams in Division 6.
