Los Alamitos leading area boys volleyball programs into 2016

Long Beach boys high school volleyball fans should plan on picking up a roster on the way into any match this season, because the gyms are going to be filled with new faces and up-and-coming players.

Last year’s Dream Team player of the year and seven of eight players selected to the first team have graduated. Only eight of 21 players to make the team at some level are back this year.

Division 1

Mike Whitcomb’s Los Alamitos team leads the way in the area, as the Griffins are already off to a 13-4 start as they prepare to begin Sunset League play this week. As has been the case the last few years, they’ll have to deal with a national powerhouse in Huntington Beach once league play starts, but that doesn’t mean the Griffins aren’t the top team locally. They’ve already claimed an unofficial Moore League title by defeating Long Beach Poly, Lakewood and Wilson.

They have perhaps the area’s best setter in senior Adam Simonetti and he’s backed by an experienced group that includes seniors Brian Breggs (outside hitter), Anthony Wong-Orantes (libero) and Jonathan Frenzel (middle blocker). The group has showed their skill by reaching last week’s Orange County Championships title match where they fell to Corona del Mar. The Griffins are ranked 24th in MaxPreps’ Top 25 national poll.

The area’s other Division 1 team, St. John Bosco, is off to an 8-4 start. The Braves feature a legitimate Dream Team Player of the Year candidate in Patrick Rowe, who has signed with Lourdes University. The Braves are spending spring break in Hawaii where they have matches against Hawaii Baptist and Iolani.

Division 2

For the last six years, the Moore League title chase has been a two-horse race. Lakewood and Long Beach Poly have taken tus with the title since 2010 with the Jackrabbits grabbing four titles and the Lancers three. They shared the crown in 2012.

This year, it looks like the Lancers are the team to beat as they look to defend their league title from last season. Lakewood already swept Poly this season and is ranked No. 9 in Division 2. The Jackrabbits and Wilson are both just outside the Top 10, but still receiving votes.

The Lancers feature some key retuers, including senior Justin Cayetano, a second team Press-Telegram Dream Teamer at outside hitter last year. Lakewood also has a trio of retuing second-team all-league players in Thomas Hillig, Nicholas Carlson and Cameron Shelton. Their young talent is off the charts with sophomore setter Kyler Tufuga and freshman outside hitter Teilon Tufuga, who are both relatives to 2014 Dream Team Player of the Year Storm Fa’agata) tuing heads.

“We’re very excited about these young guys,” Lakewood coach Devon Taylor said.

Advertisement

The Jackrabbits feature the best recruit in the area. Junior middle blocker Sam Lewis is 6-foot-10 with a maximum reach of 11 feet, 8 inches. Lewis is a Top 5 recruit nationally for his class and he has committed to USC.

Wilson will be led by Jacob Allen and Matt Miller. The Bruins are third in the league after dropping contests with Lakewood and Poly.

Cabrillo is coached by Ray Quinto and recently beat Millikan for the first time in school history.

Division 3

The San Gabriel Valley League is once again looking like a division powerhouse with Warren (No. 3) and Gahr (No. 9) both ranked in the CIF Southe Section. The two programs were league co-champion last year and figure to be the frontruers again this year with Daniel Lozada leading the Bears and Niko Lopez leading the Gladiators. Lopez, the only retuing first team Dream Teamer in the area, is a talented setter.

“Niko is the best he’s ever been right now,” Gahr coach Iris Najera said.

The Gladiators also are bolstered by Jared Beola, Joe Lopez and retuing middle blocker Justin Garrett.

Also in the division is Valley Christian (13-3). The Crusaders are expected to make noise in the Olympic League. The Crusaders are led by Miller Davis and Spencer Fredrick, who average 7.3 kills per set together, as well as setter John Fey.

Division 4

Henry Chen’s Bellflower squad is once again the Suburban League favorite, although the Buccaneers recently dropped out of the CIF-SS rankings. They had been at No. 8 for much of the year. Arick Mom and Edgar Sanchez are pacing the Bucs in kills. The league will likely come down to showdowns between Bellflower and Cerritos, the only two undefeated teams in league play.

Division 5

Over in the Camino Real League, the Saints are off to a 5-8 start for coach Alicia Lemau’u, who has a unique roster this year.

“I literally have five seniors, one junior and five freshmen,” she said with a laugh. Junior setter Taer Beett is one of a handful of players coming in from the soccer season, which means a bit of an adjustment period for the Saints to start the year.

Ricky Contreras and Aidan Grosz figure to be Beett’s top options, along with talented freshman Nicholas Mizraji. The Saints recently wrapped up nonleague play and will open up league play next week.