Wendell \u201cWoWo\u201d Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.<\/a><\/p>\nThere are some moments in sports that words simply can\u2019t do justice\u2014Long Beach Poly\u2019s CIF-SS championship on Saturday night was one of them.<\/p>\n
Two years after winning a title on the same court, the Jackrabbits returned to Cerritos College for the Division 2 championship with a chance to do it all over again. But after a grueling five-set battle against Redondo Union, Poly found itself on the brink of defeat, trailing 14-12 in the final set with its championship hopes hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n
Somehow, the Jackrabbits found a way to write the final chapter of an emotional night, rattling off four consecutive points to complete an improbable comeback and send a gymnasium packed with Poly fans into a frenzy with a 25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 23-25, 16-14 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just the journey of it, man,\u201d said an emotional Poly coach Gerald Aquiningoc after the match. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in two championships in three years, and to be able to do it again with a lot of the same girls and end their senior year like that, it\u2019s just special. It\u2019s the most special feeling and I\u2019m so proud of these girls. To reward themselves with this\u2014they deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was still a sliver of hope for Poly after Redondo Union led for most of the fifth set and reached match point. With their season on the line, the Jackrabbits found a sideout on a kill from junior Avery Milburn before a block from McKennah Iamaleava and Alison Wetteland, followed by a lift violation, gave Poly match point. Milburn and Wetteland then came up with the championship-winning block, setting off an explosion of emotion on the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just saw Coach [Aquiningoc] on the sideline and knew I had to do whatever it took,\u201d Milburn said. \u201cI told myself that I had to go block this ball no matter what. I saw her approaching at an angle, and I just thought to press as hard as I could. I knew that could be it, and I wanted to do whatever it took.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI called timeout and I told them that it was a duck check time\u2014either we\u2019re about it or we\u2019re not,\u201d Aquiningoc said. \u201cThere were no more X\u2019s and O\u2019s, if we were going to do it we were going to do it, and we did it. I thought we let this one slip when it was 14-12, but when [Ceeka] Talaga went back to serve I knew we had a shot, and we made the plays in the biggest moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poly got the game of a lifetime from senior outside hitter McKennah Iamaleava, who finished with a preposterous 29 kills on .390 hitting, adding 15 digs and a pair of aces. The 29-kill mark was by far the highest of her career, coming in the biggest game of her life with dozens of family members in the stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know what to say\u2014that\u2019s crazy,\u201d Iamaleava said when she heard about her new career high. \u201cThat\u2019s all props to my setters and my passers because I wouldn\u2019t be able to do it without them. All of my brothers and so much of my family came, and I knew I had to play good in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win marks the fourth CIF-SS title for Poly\u2019s girls\u2019 volleyball program and the school\u2019s 135th CIF-SS championship overall, by far the most of any school. The victory also comes against a suitable opponent in Redondo Union, which Poly defeated in the 2010 CIF-SS Division 1AA championship before beating the Sea Hawks again later that year in the CIF State playoffs.<\/p>\n
Poly outhit Redondo Union .242 to .224 and finished with 24 more kills than the Sea Hawks. Behind Iamaleava\u2019s monstrous night, senior Aleeya Salima and junior Avery Milburn both finished with 18 kills. Mina Orbiso led Poly with 32 assists, while Ceeka Talaga added 20 digs and a match-high three aces, accounting for half of Poly\u2019s six total.<\/p>\n
The Jackrabbits only trailed on the first point of the opening set, later opening up a four-point lead that they held for most of the frame. Redondo Union made its strongest push through the middle of the set with a 5-1 run that brought the Sea Hawks within a pair at 20-18, but Iamaleava had four kills in the Jackrabbits\u2019 final five points.<\/p>\n
Iamaleava was off to an incredible start, finishing the opening set with eight kills on .889 hitting, to go along with seven digs and an ace. Fellow senior Aleeya Salima chipped in seven kills to help Poly outhit Redondo Union .316 to .135 in the frame.<\/p>\n
The second set saw 10 ties, but it was Poly with its back against the wall for much of the frame. The Jackrabbits stayed within a pair of points for most of the set before the Sea Hawks took an 18-15 lead and began to pull away. Redondo Union was able to stay in system and feed Asofiafia So\u2019oto, who had seven kills in the set to help the Sea Hawks close out a 25-20 win. So\u2019oto finished with a team-high 17 kills on .186 hitting.<\/p>\n
Poly then had its most dominant set of the match in the third, taking its first lead at 6-5 before never looking back. Iamaleava had another incredible set, adding nine kills to her total while hitting .615 in the frame. The Jackrabbits recorded half of their six total aces in the set and built the largest lead of the match at seven points to close out a 25-18 win.<\/p>\n
Redondo Union led for most of the fourth set until an Iamaleava kill gave Poly its first lead at 19-18. The Jackrabbits then extended their lead to 22-20 thanks to a pair of errors from the Sea Hawks, but Redondo Union responded with a 5-1 run to close out the set, highlighted by a pair of huge block assists from Sienna Castillo.<\/p>\n
Despite being the shortest set to just 15 points, the fifth had the most lead changes of the match with five, along with eight ties. The teams eventually found themselves knotted at 12-12 before the Sea Hawks scored two straight to earn match point, but Poly responded with its 4-0 run to claim an improbable championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about it all the time when it comes to overcoming adversity,\u201d Aquiningoc said of that fifth. \u201cWho are we? Are we going to be our best when our best is required? Tonight, it was required, and they did it. I\u2019m just proud, man. I\u2019m really proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win was all the more special for Aquiningoc during a tough time in his personal life, after the passing of his cousin last week at a nearby Hoag Hospital. After the match, Aquiningoc was emotional as he recalled a point in the fifth set when he saw a Hoag Hospital sponsorship table cloth over the media table, which reminded him of his cousin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was 14-12, and I looked in my peripheral and saw that tablecloth,\u201d he said with tears in his eyes. \u201cI looked at it and just smiled. I thought, \u2018Well, Andrew, I need you.\u2019 I don\u2019t even remember the last points after that, but we won. It\u2019s just, just so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much like they did in 2024, fans, family, and friends packed the area outside the south side of the Cerritos College gym after the match to celebrate and embrace another championship moment. The Jackrabbits are hoping for more moments like it as they begin the CIF State playoffs on Tuesday, with the brackets set to be released tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The562\u2019s coverage of high school volleyball in 2026 is brought to you by the MLP\u2019s Bay Area Breakers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-522444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}