Chino Hills young boys volleyball group sweeps Arrowhead Christian to reach Division 5 quarterfinals

REDLANDS-- The Arrowhead Christian Academy young boys volleyball group lastly discovered its footing during the 2nd set of Saturday afternoon's playoff match. And freshman middle blocker Garang Ngosi was beginning to heat up.

Chino Hills senior middle blocker Dalton Droog ended that momentum with a big solo black against Ngosi.

The stuff block by Droog offered Chino Hills a 14-13 benefit, and the Huskies never looked back en route to sweeping Arrowhead Christian 25-13, 25-19, 25-13 in a CIF Southern Section Division 5 second-round match.

The second-seeded Huskies (25-12) will host Rancho Verde (25-6) in a quarterfinal match Wednesday night.

Chino Hills completed Saturday's match with 8 blocks, all of those coming during the first 2 video games. Droog had 3 block helps to go along with that solo block, and sophomore opposite Ethan Tsao included 4 block assists.

" They understand what we're betting… … We have high expectations and I hold them to a really high standard," Chino Hills coach Mike Rodriguez-Jimenez said. "The method they react to circumstances when things are not going our way is a reflection of their cravings and desire. I need to give them all the credit for that."

Chino Hills won the very first 6 points of the match and held a 12-3 lead following a block by Tsao and Sonnyboy Matavao. Arrowhead Christian went on a 4-0 run, but Matavao had 3 eliminates to help the Huskies restore control.

Arrowhead Christian (16-9) struggled to get its offense going in the opening set, as the Eagles handled just 3 kills while racking up 8 striking errors. Ngosi and junior opposite hitter Braden Distelberg discovered a rhythm in the second video game, as the duo combined for nine eliminates to provide the Eagles some new life.

Ngosi had two kills and a block to assist Arrowhead Christian take a 12-8 in the set. Chino Hills leveled ball game at 13 on an ace by freshman libero Daniel Libero, and after that Droog skyrocketed high for that things block.

" That felt fantastic," said Droog, who had five eliminates in the match. "It truly gave us an increase of energy."

Freshman outside hitter Sean Spicer had 2 eliminates down the stretch to assist Chino Hills take the set.

Spicer continued to have the hot hand during the third set, when he signed up 4 of his eight eliminates. Matavao, a junior outside hitter, completed with a match-high 11 kills and a. 423 attacking percentage.

This is only the fourth season Chino Hills has actually fielded a boys volleyball team, and this marks very first time the Huskies have actually reached the quarterfinals of the area playoffs. Chino Hills finished third in the hard Baseline League, which also consists of Upland and Claremont, quarterfinalists in the Division 2 and Division 4 playoffs, respectively.

" My young boys aren't going to pull back from anyone, no matter what" Rodriguez-Jimenez said. "We have not truly been at full strength till the very end of the season. I believe we're playing our finest now, and the unity is strong."

Distelberg and Ngosi completed with 10 and eight kills, respectively, for Arrowhead Christian. The Eagles played the match without senior middle blocker Ben Byrd (team-high 2.7 eliminates per set).