Windward Spikes into Regional Semifinals

State playoff matches are usually very difficult, but the Windward School boys volleyball squad made Tuesday night's Southern California Regional first-rounder look easy... with a little help from YouTube.

The Wildcats traveled to the San Fernando Valley to face Los Angeles City Section Division III champion Northridge Academy, a team they hadn't played before and knew little about. That is, until their coaches found highlight videos of the Pumas on YouTube and devised a gameplan based off that footage.

"They had quite a few matches posted on YouTube and it gave us some insight," Windward assistant coach Justin McCabe said. "So we were familiar with their lineup and their players and some of what they like to do. They seemed to play deep perimeter defense with their big guys tight to the net, so we dropped the ball behind the block and they never made the adjustment."

The strategy worked to perfection as the fifth-seeded Wildcats built early leads in each game and withstood several runs by Northridge Academy to sweep 25-22, 25-18, 25-16 and advance to the Division III regional semifinals against top-seeded Francis Parker of the San Diego Section.

The match will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Parker (14-10), which swept eighth-seeded Tri-City Christian of Vista in the first round. The winner advances to Saturday's regional finals at Irvine Valley College versus either sixth-seeded Santa Fe Christian or second-seeded Campbell Hall.  

"We definitely have the talent and ability to win it," McCabe said. "It's just a matter of staying healthy and staying focused. We've played some real tough teams and that should benefit us now."   

Windward entered the state tournament still stinging from its five-set loss to Los Angeles Cathedral in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 semifinals and McCabe believes that defeat may have toughened the Wildcats heading into Tuesday's regional opener.

"At times we lost our concentration against Cathedral, which caused errors. I think it showed us how we needed to come into this match," McCabe said. "We kept our composure and focus even when they started coming back on us and that's how we need to keep playing."  

Ari Golin had eight kills and served three aces against the No. 4-seeded Pumas (16-1), who entered the contest undefeated in best-of-five matches. Hitter Drew Pion had seven kills and 14 digs, Peter Gutman had four kills and four digs, Ryan Manoogian added six kills and 13 digs and senior setter Chase Pion had 11 digs and 22 assists for Windward (15-4). 

"We played really well and had consistent passing the entire game," Manoogian said. "Chase [Pion] is such a smart setter, we just run everything through him. We just have to stay positive all the time because it's a long way to San Diego."

The first set was the closest, as Justin Bates' spike pulled Northridge Academy to within 24-22, but a hit wide on the next point closed it out for the Wildcats. In the second set, Windward built a 7-3 lead but the host Pumas reeled off four straight points to pull even. Again, Windward built a sizeable lead only to see the opponent close to within 18-17, but the Wildcats ended on a 7-1 run.  

Windward took an early 6-2 lead in set three and after Northridge Academy pulled to within 8-7 the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to open a 14-8 lead. Once more the Pumas responded, narrowing the deficit to 16-14 before Windward took four straight to make it 20-14. Manoogian's ace made it 23-15 and it three points later it was over.

"We've won three City [small school] titles but this is our first appearance in the state tournament," Northridge Academy assistant coach Tom Shedd said. "I think we're a more powerful team but they were very careful, fundamentally sound and it came down to unforced errors. We had too many and we were playing from behind all night."