A 25-10, 25-16, 25-20 win over Saints last week clinched the Western League boys volleyball crown for the La Jolla High Vikings and head coach Dave Jones. The title was La Jolla’s first since 1989.
Matt Jones (15 kills) and Tyler Heap (29 assists) led the way for the Vikings. “Hanging a banner or two has been a goal of ours since the beginning of the season,” Jones noted.
It was just two years ago that the Vikings were 0-12 in Western League and 5-25 overall over the course of the regular season. Jones noted how tough the Western League has been and also how far his squad has come over the last two seasons.
“The majority of our eight seniors this year started out on our inaugural freshman team four years ago,” Jones said. “We started that third team at LJHS to build our program and it has paid off. As the guys became more competitive, many also put in extra time playing club in the off-season. The additional reps and playing time make a huge difference when it comes time to start up the high school season each spring.”
La Jolla has a bye this week in the first round of CIFs and will host the winner of University City and El Capitan today, May 15, at 7 p.m.
La Jolla High gained at least a share of the Western League championship scoring a 23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-9 victory over Francis Parker.
Senior Jones led the La Jolla (23-4, 10-1) attack with 18 kills, followed by seniors Dillon Lesniak and Kevin Leyva, who had 17 and 13 kills, respectively.
In total, junior setter Heap dished out 51 assists for the match, while sophomore libero John Walsh finished the day with eight digs.
“After winning the Silver Division championships at the Redondo Power Classic (April 25-26), it felt great to bring that momentum back to Western League play [last week],” Jones said.
At The Bishop’s School, the Knights headed into the end of the season with a record of 7-17, which includes a tournament the team played with all freshmen.
Bishop’s non-tournament record is 5-8, with a Coastal League record of 2-7.
In recent action, Bishop’s defeated Tri-City Christian 3-0 and fell to Canyon Crest Academy 3-0.