Samo volleyball beats Beverly Hills High School to secure playoff spot

Samo boys’ volleyball beat the Beverly Hills High School Normans on Thursday, April 30 with a final score of 3-1, propelling them into second place in league to guarantee the team a spot in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).Samo started off the first set on the wrong side of an 11-7 lead for Beverly. They were able to tie the game, but soon lost momentum due to three missed serves, giving Beverly free points. Late in the set, outside hitter John Schwengel (’18) spiked the ball to trail Beverly by one, 24-23. On the last possession, Samo tipped the ball out of bounds giving Beverly the two-point 25-23 win in set one.Samo didn’t begin the second set much better, as they allowed Beverly a 4-0 run to get an early 4-1 lead. However, Samo later regained the lead after consecutive tip-backs by opposite hitter Noah Alemania (’15). Beverly was forced to call a timeout with Samo high-fiving, holding a 16-9 lead. Middle blocker Elijah Lax (’15) won the set for Samo, 25-12, with a soft tip.Samo started the third set off with two botched serves, though they managed to tie it early at 5-5. Later on, Beverly was forced to call a timeout to slow down the surging Samo, who was nursing a 15-10 lead. The Vikings went on a strong 15-3 run to finish the set 25-13.Samo started the fourth set off playing well until a botched serve allowed for Beverly to come within 1, 7-6. Then, Beverly called a timeout after a soft hit by Alemania brought the score to 18-11. Finally, the Vikings pulled off the 25-18 win as Beverly threw the ball under the net.According to Alemania, the key to the victory was Samo’s defense as well as the team’s ability to find strategic openings.“Defensively, we were scrambling after every ball and really showing a lot of hustle,” Alemania said. “On the offensive side, we found the openings in the block and were able to chip away and score some points.”Alemania stated that this victory was even sweeter because it took place on senior night.“It was the best way I could picture my last game — taking out Beverly Hills and making playoffs that night was an incredible experience,” Alemania said.Samo now looks into their next matchup at Ocean League against El Segundo on Tuesday, May 5. Although Samo’s competitor may be a challenge to defeat, Samo is hoping to improve certain techniques for the game, as a win will solidify a spot at playoffs.“El Segundo is a very strong team, [so] we need to be on target with our passing and our serving needs to be a lot tougher so we can keep them out of system,” Alemania said. “They also put up a decent block, so it’s going to be really important for our hitters to hit high hands and aim for the corners of the court. We need to keep our intensity up and keep playing at the level that we are playing at right now. At this point in time, we are in the playoffs and we want to keep fighting towards a higher seed going into [playoffs].”