Thursday’s tooth-and-nail win is just the kind of thing the San Marcos boys volleyball team is looking for early in the season.
“Sometimes there’s a little bit of magic when you win the close ones,” said coach Roger Kuntz. “It can give you a bit of a jump-start, and I think that’s what we got tonight.”
Andrew Grimes pounded 24 kills as the senior-laden Royals took down a strong Buchanan team 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13 at the Thunderhut.
“I think this is huge, because a lot of us seniors have been around for a long time and it’s kind of our season to start winning,” said Neil Greene, who had a key solo block and had a nice dig to lead the charge in the fifth game.
Grimes showed that when he gets the right set he can be dominant, as he detonated balls on the left side throughout the night.
“We know that we have the best arm-swing in the Channel League,” said Kuntz of his star senior. “Everyone’s very aware of that. What we want to make sure of is that we balance that out.”
Setter/opposite hitter Erik Holliday did a nice job as part of the supporting cast, putting away eight kills with only one error for the Royals (2-0).
It didn’t look good early for San Marcos. The Royals’ ball control was shaky, putting them into an early 12-5 hole that they couldn’t climb out of. The second frame began with more of the same, as Buchanan (0-1) picked up an ace to go ahead 18-10. But Grimes responded with a blast down the line that woke his team up. A 9-3 run which included two aces by Grimes ensued, and the Bears were forced to call a timeout up 20-19.
San Marcos came out of the timeout and shanked an easy pass, then missed a serve two points later and the Bears looked primed to take the game up 22-20, but the Royals surged back to tie things up at 22-apiece on a block by Jonathan Newton and Erik Holliday. Grimes would soon finish it out with an off-speed kill from the back row.
Kuntz said that the resilience his team showed down the stretch in the second game was missing in years past.
“When I had them on JV two years ago we would fight real hard but we couldn’t find ways to win. I think now we have a nice terminator on the outside and our setters working together well, so we’re playing above the net well. These guys believe,” he said.
After splitting the next two frames, the Royals got off to a great start in the fifth. Grimes and Newton opened things up with a block and Grimes picked up a solo stuff on the second point. The Bears clawed all the way back and more to take a 9-7 lead, But Holliday nabbed a kill, Greene picked up his big solo block and Michael York notched an ace to give San Marcos the lead for keeps.
Grimes covered his own hit and promptly put his next swing away to close out the match.
The Royals play at Arcadia Friday before the Best of the West Tournament over the weekend.
