By Rick Assad
When Providence High hosted Rio Hondo Prep in a boys’ volleyball match on Tuesday evening at the Fritz B. Burns Activity Center, the difference between the two teams wasn’t much but the Kares had enough energy, hitting power and defense to emerge with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-19 Prep League triumph.
The third set was close and was knotted at 2-2, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 16-16.
From this point, the Kares outscored the Pioneers 9-3 including a push out of bounds by Providence’s senior Preston Komasir for the match.
Mario Adriano is the Providence coach and liked his team’s effort.
“It was a tough one. We had an opportunity to see Rio earlier in the season when they came to our tournament, so we had some plans to take advantage of a few of their weaknesses,” he said. “When our team was able to execute, it was easy to score. But what really held us back was our inconsistent serving today. I counted 18 missed serves on our side which was the difference in us taking those sets.”
The set began with Rio Hondo Prep (10-10 and 3-1 in league) pulling ahead 4-2 on a mishit by sophomore Jaden Casal.
An ace from Providence senior Ronin Pingul made it 9-6 but Komisar’s push out of play made it 12-10 in favor of the Kares as the Pioneers called time out.
Rio Hondo Prep’s lead swelled to 14-11 on a kill from junior outside hitter Rainn Pollock but Providence (3-9 and 2-2 in league) tied it at 16-16.
A kill from junior outside hitter Lu En He made it 18-16 in favor of Rio Hondo Prep and then it was 20-17 on a winner from junior middle blocker Jace Frary.
Senior outside hitter Derek David’s kill made it 22-17 and David’s spike increased the deficit to 24-18 before Komasir’s hitting error.
The initial game commenced with the Kares jumping out to a 5-1 lead on a hitting miscue from Komisar.
Rio Hondo Prep then pulled ahead 6-4 on a kill from Pollock but a block from Providence senior John Sarmiento evened it at 9-9.
A kill from sophomore outside hitter Nathan Marshall increased the Kares’ advantage to 13-10. Marshall’s winner made it 17-11 as the Pioneers requested time out.
Pollock’s spike made it 20-14 and a winner from Lu En He saw Rio Hondo Prep make it 21-15.
Providence came within 22-18 on a service winner from Pingul but the visitors tallied three of the next four points.
The second set went back-and-forth early as the Kares led 2-1 on a kill from Pollock and 4-2 on a spike from senior middle blocker Zach Burl.
The Pioneers charged back and tied it at 6-6 on Sarmiento’s stuff but Rio Hondo Prep led 11-7 and 12-7 on consecutive kills from Pollock.
Casal’s kill leveled it at 12-12 but Pollock’s winner made it 15-13.
Pollock’s kill made it 16-14, Frary’s push saw the Kares lead 18-15 and Frary’s block made it 21-17.
Pingul’s service winner made it 21-20 in favor of Rio Hondo Prep and a hitting miscue by Pollock tied it at 21-21 as Rio Hondo Prep called time.
Komisar’s push tied it at 22-22 but a kill from Marshall made it 24-23 as the Pioneers asked for time. Pollock’s kill captured the set.
Adriano felt that the match was fairly even and was proud of his squad.
“Still, I think we did well adjusting to Rio’s offense and mitigating their outside hitters and also taking advantage of their weaker back right defense,” he said. “So, while I’m not disappointed with my team’s performance, as it’s shown me their ability to listen to and execute objectives and make adjustments on the fly.”
