Torrey Pines High School’s boys volleyball team knows it has firepower, particularly in the form of USC commit Christian Connell. The Falcons know they can win matches with defense led by libero David Quinones. Their senior leaders are calm under pressure.
Saturday, the Falcons learned they can also win with their backs to the wall.
Torrey Pines overcame several significant deficits, including being down 14-11 in the third set of the quarterfinals, to finish tied for third in the prestigious Best of the West Invitational at Alliant University.
The Falcons were the highest-finishing San Diego team in the tournament, which included 11 of the top 25 teams in this week’s USA Today Sports/AVCA Super 25 rankings.
“We showed a lot of resilience, some mental fortitude,” said Falcons head coach Nick Rubacky, whose squad is 8-1 heading into next week’s North County Conference play. “We’re never out of it. We’ve been preaching it in our gym in practice that you’re never going to give up on yourselves. Regardless of the scoreboard, we can come back and beat anybody.”
The tournament featured the top four teams in the nation. Third-ranked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa beat Newport Harbor 25-15, 25-19 in the championship.
In the quarterfinals, the Falcons faced fourth-ranked Sandra Day O’Connor out of Glendale, Ariz. Down 14-11 in the third set, Torrey Pines came back to win 17-15 on Connell’s kill on an over.
“We practice a lot of serve and , which is one of our strong suits,” said Falcons setter/opposite Brandon Pho, who went back to serve to start the comeback. “But also our camaraderie. It’s not just the guys on the court. It’s the guys on the bench as well uplifting everyone and making sure everyone’s in a positive mood. I think that’s what got us that far.”
Cathedral Catholic was the only other San Diego team to make the stacked gold division. To show how deep the field was, the bulk of the teams in the gold division were fighting for the No. 1 ranking in their entire states from California, Arizona and Hawaii.
The Dons finished tied for 13th after emerging from a three-way tie for second place in Friday’s pool play, but lost to O’Connor followed by a three-set lost to Kamehameha Kapalama on Saturday.
“It’s really nice to make the gold bracket at an elite field tournament,” Dons head coach Pat Bonner said. “The most important thing is we’re getting better for the end of the season. Playing good teams early is going to help our growth in April (and) May when we get into the playoffs.”
Del Norte finished second in the silver division. The Nighthawks knocked off Carlsbad in a physical 23-15, 30-28, 15-8 battle in the silver semifinals. The Lancers finished tied for third in silver, followed by Poway, which finished tied for seventh. La Costa Canyon finished tied for 15th in silver.
The tournament featured some of the best high school players in the nation. In addition to Connell (USC), Grand Canyon-bound Ryan Enos of Cathedral Catholic and Carlsbad’s duo of Parker Tomkinson (USC) and Max Payne (Hawaii), the gym was full of players who will star at the nation’s top programs next year and beyond. The most powerful arm probably belonged to tournament MVP Victor Loiola. The son of Hall of Fame beach player Jose Loiola is headed to Long Beach State.
Poway coach Charlie Jackson, the tournament organizer, put together the biggest field of non-San Diego teams in the tournament’s 17-year history. It’s part of his goal to grow the game he loves and open opportunities to those outside of just Southern California.
“The diversity of the field this year and the level of play shows the game is growing,” Jackson said. “Even though this is the hotbed of volleyball, it’s growing.”
Jackson’s team went 1-5 over the weekend, but he may have learned more about his team at this tournament than at the Sweetwater Tournament the Titans won a couple weeks ago.
“This weekend is that litmus test of, we still know we’re a solid team but this tournament showed where we need to get to,” said Jackson, who was without the services of his top player, middle/opposite Danny Sawyer. “We’re happy to learn what it is we need to be the team we want to be.”
The Falcons were represented by Connell and Quinones on the all-tournament team. Connell hit .371 for the tournament on 74 kills. Sophomore Declan Flanagan was Torrey Pines’ next highest attacker with 52 kills. Middle Kianoush Mohebbi had 40 kills on a remarkable .515 hitting percentage.
If this was an indicator of how Torrey Pines will play under pressure situations the rest of the season, Rubacky feels good about his team’s chances.
“That’s why this tournament is so good,” said Rubacky, whose Falcons tied the 2018 La Jolla team as the highest finishers in tournament history.
“You get to see where you’re at in of the best teams in the nation. I couldn’t be more proud of the boys and how hard they played and came together. We got contributions from all kinds of sources. We wanted to come out and prove that we were part of the conversation with the best teams in the country, and I think we accomplished that.”
