The Los Alamitos High boys volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in sets over Marina, but the Vikings rallied to force a fifth set as the Griffins eventually prevailed 25-21, 25-19, 22-25, 20-25, 15-10 in a Wave League match on Friday at Marina High.
The Griffins improved to 2-1 in league play and came into the week in second place, behind Fountain Valley, which was 2-0 coming into this week. Marina dropped to 1-1 and sits in third place.
After Marina’s rally to tie the match at 2-2 in sets, the Griffins started strong to gain the early advantage in the fifth and deciding set. They took a 4-1 lead, with senior outside hitter Jette Estes getting three kills in the run. His tap over blockers gave the Griffins a 3-1 lead and then he hammered a hit off a dig attempt to push the lead to 4-1.
Griffins Coach Tony Panzica said the Vikings did a good job of disrupting the Los Al attack in the third and fourth set, with a “gritty effort” at the net. But in the fifth set, the Griffins settled back into a team effort that Panzica said they have been working to improve.
“Just our cohesiveness, we’ve been really working on it the last couple of weeks and I think we got it, we’ve got a strong core of seniors on this team,” Panzica said.
Marina kept the fifth set close, but with the Griffins leading 11-9, they got a kill off a block from senior outside hitter Enzo Kerley and another junior opposite hitter Dylan Lowenberg to push the lead to 13-9. An ace serve from freshman libero Charlie Panzica got them to match point and one play later the Griffins closed out the match.
The Griffins play at Corona del Mar on Friday at 5:45 p.m.
