Carson serves up rally, wins City DI crown
VENICE » It took some late-match heroics, but the Carson High boys volleyball team survived Friday's 21/2 hour match with Marshall and rallied to win the CIF L.A. City Section Division I championship.
With the fifth set tied 14-14, senior outside hitter Vernon Abuy had consecutive kills to clinch the title. The scores were 25-19, 20-25, 25-27, 25-20, 16-14.
“It was a hard-fought battle, both teams were pretty great and our guys just collectively stepped up,” Carson coach Jeremy Malazarte said. “When we were down in the fourth set I told my team `We are built for this'. We've always been down all season and have comeback. They just fought their hearts out and we came up with the win.”
Malazarte was a member of the 2014 Carson team that won the City title.
The biggest obstacle for the Colts all night was Marshall's 6-foot-8 middle blocker Micah Wong Diallo. The senior finished with 22 kills and 10 blocks and forced the Carson hitters to hit around him when he was in the match.
Carson jumped on the Barristers in the first set thanks to the hitting of dynamic duoof Abuy and junior Andrew David. They combined for 12 kills in the set as the Colts built a 19-8 lead.
Marshall rallied behind Diallo to get within five points, but David closed out the set with a big block of a Diallo attempt to allow Carson to take the opening set.
In the next two sets Diallo took over as he had 12 kills and six blocks to help Marshall take control of the match.
To its credit, Carson didn't give up.
“We just believed in ourselves and knew that we could do this despite being an undersized team (no player over 6 foot on the court for the Colts),” said David, who finished with 20 kills. “Now we got to work hard to get ready for state.”
In the fifth set Carson had to battle back again, falling behind 9-6 thanks to four unforced errors and three Diallo kills. After Malazarte called timeout, Carson regrouped to score four consecutive points to take a 10-9 lead.
After a Diallo kill tied the score 14-14, Abuy stepped up one final time, drilling a kill off Diallo's hand. Carson middle blocker Brent Tamba then got to the ball on a potential tying attempt by Diallo, which allowed the Colts to dig and set Abuy one final time for the championship-clinching kill, setting off a wild celebration.
“It was a struggle, especially after going down a set,” said Abuy, who had a match-high 30 kills. “We knew all we had to do was keep our composure and not get frustrated.
“This is a team sport, an individual can't win, he (Diallo) can't carry a team by himself. At the end I wanted the ball to have a chance to end it and give us the win for Carson High and the community.”