When San Marino High hosted Monrovia in boys’ volleyball, Titan coach Tony Chou took the opportunity to utilize a larger portion of his roster and move players around as the hosts looked to stay unbeaten in Rio Hondo League play.
“Everyone belongs on the court,” Chou said. “All my players — all 15 of them — could be on the court at any time and we’ll need all of them. The further we go, we’re going to need every one of them to be on the court and take care of business.”
Featuring some different rotations and players in different places, San Marino was still able to grind out a 25-21, 25-19, 25-21 sweep of Monrovia on March 26 to remain atop the league standings.
“We’re glad we got to get everyone playing time,” Chou said. “We started to play our volleyball near the end of the match, playing a little defense, kind of running the offense people know us for. We’ve got to get one of these under our belts where we don’t get too comfortable, so I think that was good.”
The Titans honored their seniors, Alwin Champon, Jeffery Li, Sebastian Liong and Ryan Wang, before the game. All four were on the court to start before initial substitutions and were among those seeing more playing time in the win.
“I think our team — we played really well,” Liong said. “I would say we got a lot of digs up. Even though we weren’t fully in it we still pulled through and we finished the game.”
Although San Marino won in straight sets, Monrovia stayed in all three games.
Game one was tied nine times. The Wildcats led by as many as three points twice and the hosts’ biggest advantage was four.
Game two had three ties, with Monrovia having a maximum lead of four and the Titans’ lead topping out at the final margin of six.
The third game was tied nine times and saw the visitors lead by three, with the Titans’ largest advantage at four.
“Overall it was a good game,” said Li of defeating the Wildcats. “It was hard. We all played our best. [Monrovia] kept it close, but in the end we still won.”
Junior Casey Chan led the hosts with eight kills, often attacking from the backline.
“We were all ready for their right side, [Chan] — awesome player,” Monrovia coach Marvin Fong said. “[We were] surprised that he had so many attacks from the back row and when we made that adjustment for it, it was a little bit too late.”
Ryan Wang had seven kills and an ace. Luca Moggio was a force on the block inside and had six kills. Li was also active on the block, playing in the middle, and rang up five kills. Setter Jared Wang had one kill, as did Zach Fong, who also had an ace. Devon Jue and Liong also notched an ace.
Monrovia was led on the attack by senior Cody Wu with 12 kills and junior Jonathan Joyner with eight.
“What I saw was a very good San Marino team that we highly respect,” coach Fong said. “It’s such a well-rounded team.”
After the hosts had a narrow lead in the early stages of game one, Monrovia caught up and built a three-point advantage that held as late as 17-14. The opener was tied for the final time at 19-19 after a Wildcat service error started a five-point Titan run. It continued with a kill on a touch shot in the middle by Moggio, a combo block by Moggio and Li, a solo block by Li and another combo block from Moggio and Li. Soon after, a kill by Li on the outside brought up game point at 24-20. The next Titan serve went into the net, but San Marino claimed game one on a kill by Ryan Wang in the middle on the next point.
In game two Monrovia held the lead, peaking at four three times until San Marino got a kill on a touch shot on the outside by Chan, followed by a block by Li, to draw even at 15-15. Soon after, a kill from the outside by Chan tied the game for the final time at 17-17. It was the first point in a six-point run for the Titans. The San Marino scoring spree continued with a block by Jared Wang and Moggio, an ace down the line by Jue, a Wildcat hitting error, a kill in the middle by Moggio and, finally, a solo block in the middle by Moggio. The game ended soon after when a Monrovia service error brought up game point and an ace by Liong finished things off in favor of the Titans.
In game three, neither team led by more than one until the Wildcats broke a 11-11 tie with a three-point run. The Titans responded with a 7-2 run that put them up for what turned out to be for good. The run ended with an ace to the deep corner of the court by Zach Fong. Match point came up for the first time after a block in the middle by Li that followed a Ryan Wang ace. The next Titan serve sailed long, but the match ended on the next point when the Wildcat serve drifted wide.
“We are lucky to have had these seniors with us,” Chou said. “I’ve had them for all three or four years, so it’s good to have senior night with this turnout.”
SAN MARINO 3, LA CAÑADA 1
The Titans defeated the Spartans in four games, 22-25, 25-10, 26-24, 25-16, to remain unbeaten in league play.
As of April 2, San Marino boasts a 18-5-1 overall record and a 5-0 league mark ahead of its Rio Hondo League matchup against Temple City at home on April 4.
TITANS LEARN FROM CHAMPS
San Marino boys’ volleyball had the chance participate in a clinic with three members of the UCLA men’s volleyball team, the reigning NCAA Division I champions.
San Marino assistant coach Holly Wong, who also shoots some photos and videos for the UCLA team, set up the clinic.
The three Bruins working with the Titans were the 2023 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Alex Knight, setter David Flores and libero Matt Aziz.
First published in the April 4 issue of the San Marino Tribune
