LONG BEACH — Long Beach Poly girls volleyball first-year coach Gerald Aquiningoc wants his team to understand that it’s fine being boring at times.
After Poly finished off a 25-15, 25-18, 25-20 sweep Thursday against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs, the example he used with his team was the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
“They just dominate, but it’s boring and they stick to their system,” Aquiningoc said. “That’s what we gotta do.”
Poly (25-9) started slow, picked it up through the second set and the start of the third, then hit a lull twice en route to the victory.
The Jackrabbits, co-champions of the Moore League, will host Crean Lutheran (17-5) in Saturday’s second round. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
“I think it was more mental, just a little bit of mental fatigue,” Jackrabbits middle blocker Kristen Dear said after notching a match-high 12 kills. “It’s like, OK, we’re so close to the finish line and we can see it. But we still need to focus on what we’re doing and do our job all the way to the end.”
Poly jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third set before Notre Dame (12-15) immediately responded with a 9-3 spurt to tie the frame.
The set was tied three more times, the last occasion at 16-16, before the Jackrabbits found separation. Kalia Teofilo had three of Poly’s 11 service aces during the key 8-0 stretch to get to match point.
The Knights battled back once more to pull within 24-20 before a serve sailed long to end the contest.
FINAL 🏐: Long Beach Poly moves on to the 2nd round of the @CIFSS girls volleyball Division 3 playoffs.
Jackrabbits swept Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks 25-15, 25-18, 25-20 @BeachVarsity @johnwdavis @haleymsawyer pic.twitter.com/TUl1DoAEpP
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) October 20, 2023
“When they try to get fancy and cute and make the spectacular play, bad things are happening,” Aquiningoc said of the…
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