NORWALK – The emotional roller coaster that the Esperanza boys volleyball team hopped on Saturday left them exhausted, yet victorious at the end.
The Aztecs were on the verge of losing the third set and falling behind in the match, but rallied from set point, 24-19.
“We were going to push until the game was over,” setter Ryan Heller said.
Despite grabbing the momentum, the Aztecs were pushed to a fifth and deciding set against Laguna Beach. Ben Oxnard had four kills in the final set and Heller provided the final point to seal the Aztecs’ second consecutive CIF-SS Division 2 title with a 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 18-25, 15-9 victory over the second-seeded Breakers at Cerritos College.
“We talk about it all the time, about fighting and never giving up and making your breaks,” Esperanza coach Isaac Owens said. “You make your breaks by working hard, and I think we got some breaks in that third game and we needed them.
“At that point, you’re somewhat defeated, but you never give up.”
That could also describe the Breakers (28-6), who won a back-and-forth battle in the fourth set.
Laguna Beach (24-6) went on a 3-0 run to take a 19-14 lead on a kill from Jack Wyett. The Aztecs responded with three consecutive points, but the Breakers evened the match by scoring six of the final seven points.
In the fifth set, the Aztecs snapped a 3-3 tie with a serving error, an ace from UCLA-bound Jake Arnitz and a block from Kevin Sowski.
“When you have one of the best guys (Arnitz), in a game to 15, you’re going to give him the ball,” Owens said. “And they think the ball is going there for sure, and then we set outside to Ben a few times, we got Connor (Jordan) once, (Kevin) Sowski and then Ryan.
“I think overall, they (Laguna Beach) maybe got a little tense and we were kind of loose still. Going to 15 is crazy. It is probably better for us because Jake doesn’t have to take a lot of swings for us to get a win.”
Arnitz finished with 38 kills and 11 digs. Oxnard had 12 kills and 17 digs.
“I think Isaac did a really good job of coaching,” Laguna Beach coach Darren Utterback said. “Our guys played hard, but they had a really good game plan.”
Wyett led the Breakers with 21 kills. Noah Blanton added 16 and Jake Hexberg and Jack Burgi added 14 and 10.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
