Boys volleyball: Larkin celebrates win over rival Elgin
The Larkin boys volleyball players soaked in the scene after a 25-20, 22-25, 25-17 home win over Elgin Tuesday.
The Royals exchanged celebratory hugs and high-fives, greeted happy fans and snapped more cellphone photos than proud parents on prom night.
Years from now, the Larkin players will look back at the ear-to-ear grins they sported in those pictures and remember the feeling of satisfaction that came with beating their chief rival in an Upstate Eight Conference match for the first time since April 23, 2013.
"It's just great to beat them in all types of sports," Larkin senior hitter Aron Saenz said. "It's a great rivalry so this is a good feeling."
Larkin has beaten Elgin in the occasional tournament match over the past six years, coach Katie Smiley said, but Elgin dominated the last five UEC meetings in straight sets.
Thus, winning the conference matchup was a team goal for Larkin (5-17-1, 1-4) from season's outset. It inspired the Royals to snap a 12-12, third-set tie and win 13 of the final 18 points to beat Elgin (8-20, 1-4).
"We've been talking about this game all season," Smiley said. "This was Elgin and we wanted to beat Elgin."
The Royals won the first set but the Maroons rebounded to win the second when 6-foot-5 middle hitter Trey Yarber was inserted in the lineup. He sat out the first set after missing the team bus.
Yarber, 6-6 senior Cameron Muller, 6-5 senior Jesse Quinones and 6-2 senior Luisrey Ramos helped even the match with a series of heady tips, well-placed spikes and strong blocks.
However, Larkin broke free from a 12-12, third-set tie, helped by a pair of kills from Kendall Burns, fed by setter Manny Delgado.
Burns, a 6-2 junior, finished with a team-best 12 kills, including a hard spike for a 16-12 lead. Delgado had 24 assists.
"It was just stepping up from all of our players," said Delgado, a team captain. "Our bench helped us a lot and our coaches and our managers, everyone. It was just stepping up. It was a mental game and it starts at practice."
The Maroons usually play a 5-2 offense but were limited to a 6-1 attack due to injuries. One setter missed the match. The other played gingerly on an ankle turned last week.
"We played hard but we had some mental lapses," Elgin coach Andy Legoff said. "We were not covering very well on defense and our passing was a little bit off. We've had some injuries at different positions and we haven't had time to jell in practice recently. That kind of hurt us. Our defense and serve-receive was just not where it should be. Serve-receive has really been one of our strong points this year and we just didn't have it."
Junior Jonathan Pena led the Larkin defense with 23 digs.