Valley Christian, Long Beach Poly advance in CIF-SS volleyball playoffs

CERRITOS >> After being eliminated in the first round of the CIF Southe Section boys volleyball playoffs each of the last three seasons, Valley Christian High School junior Miller Davis wanted to personally ensure his team would not have to endure the same fate this time around.

The outside hitter did just that Tuesday afteoon as he and senior Spencer Fredrick led the Olympic League champions (23-2) to a 25-12, 25-15, 25-21 sweep of visiting Mission Prep (9-12) in a Division 3 playoff opener.

Davis had a match-high 19 kills to go along with nine digs and three aces while Fredrick had eight kills. Valley dismantled the Royals in just under an hour and never trailed in the contest.

“I’m pretty excited,” Davis said. “It’s my first time in high school that I’ve got past the first round, so I’m glad we got past this and we’re treating every game like a championship game.”

The home squad rattled off nine runs of three consecutive points or more, with a high of seven in a row in the second set. Mission had just three such spurts and each ended at three.

Valley Christian coach Jason Kwak felt his team made a few uncharacteristic unforced errors, but credited both sides for their preparation leading into the postseason.

“I’d like to congratulate both teams,” he said. “We lost in the first round last year, so getting past this is a big first step for them.

“I’m very proud of the way Miller played,” the coach said. “He’s our junior, one of the leaders on our team. He’s huge. He’s our outside hitter who passes, gets points for us off serving. He sides out for us and plays defense. He’s an all-around great guy.”

Spencer Gaer and Matt Blaney paced the Royals with five kills apiece.

The Crusaders will go on the road to face the wier of Tuesday night’s matchup between Paramount and Hemet on Thursday in the second round.

“We need to stay consistent,” Davis said of what Valley has to do to be successful during the swift-moving playoffs. “We just need to work on staying conditioned and be ready for long games. We’ve only gone three games pretty much the entire season, so we need to get ready for those four and five games.”

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LONG BEACH POLY 3, ALISO NIGUEL 1 >> The Jackrabbits have already had a nice season under first-year coach Justin Oleole, wiing a Moore League title. But Poly was intent on not being knocked out of the first round for a second consecutive year and it fulfilled that goal Tuesday at home, topping Aliso Niguel, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-14.

“We had some expectations this year and the guys really rose to the occasion,” Oleole said.

Nobody rose higher than middle blocker Sam Lewis, who had 20 kills and six blocks in the win.

“Last year losing in the first round really hurt us a lot,” Lewis said. “This is an emotional high.”

The Jackrabbits’ only misstep was in the second set where they struggled with ball control. They still had big contributions from Romeo Khin and Dylan Stump on offense.

Poly will host Burroughs on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the second round.

LAKEWOOD 3, BURBANK 0 >> The Lancers advanced to the second round with a 25-16, 25-12, 26-24 sweep.

EL TORO 3, WILSON 0 >> The Bruins were swept to close their season. Wilson was led by Matt Miller’s nine kills.

NEWPORT HARBOR 3, ST. JOHN BOSCO 0

CERRITOS 3, ST. ANTHONY 0

SHERMAN OAKS NOTRE DAME 3, LOS ALAMITOS 2