In front of the home crowd in Leavey Gymnasium, the Cubs took on the Laguna Beach Breakers in their first playoff action of the season. The Breakers went 13-13 on the year in the highly competitive Bay League. Comparatively, the Cubs went 19-4 en route to a Mission League title, though the team hasn’t seen game action since the April 16 win against Alemany, over two weeks ago.

Starting Six

6’4” Senior Will Campbell

5’10” Senior Nico Posivak

6’3” Junior Aidan Peters

6’4” Junior Luke Turner

6’3” Junior Henry Wedbush

6’5” Junior Cameron Lynch

Set 1

The Cubs receive the first set of the match and immediately set up Turner who marks a kill from the opposite side to open the game. The next possession sees the Breakers botch a tip, and the Cubs set up Turner for a second kill from the same side. After an athletic pancake from Posivak, the Cubs get the ball to Peters who marks the kill after the long rally. The Cubs send their serve over but find Campbell on the next play to take a 4-1 lead. After a miscue that sends the Cub hit out of bounds, the Cubs benefit from a double. The Breakers then send a hit attempt past the end line and find themselves in a 6-2 hole before sending the next hit into the net. The away side can’t seem to figure out the Cubs and call a timeout, finding themselves down 8-2 early. Out of the timeout, the Cubs send a serve into the net. Despite a strong hit from Mortimer, the Cubs lose  two consecutive points, looking unprepared for both returns. The Breakers then get a hit from the opposite side to come back within two before sending the next hit out of bounds. The Breakers get caught out of rotation, but the Cubs fail to get their serve in bounds. The Cubs score on a Peters block before giving up a hit from the outside. The away side nabs an ace before sending the next serve short of even the net. Strong blocking from the Cubs goes to waste when the team sends its hit out of bounds. The problems are only compounded when their next two hits get blocked, surrendering the lead to the Breakers 12-13. The Cubs finally get back on the board with an outside hit from Turner that evens everything up. Shortly after, the Breakers send a tip out of bounds before failing to return the serve from Campbell. The next serve for the Cubs goes into the net, compounding the error that results in a block for the Breakers.The Cubs do get their next hit to connect with Turner helping the Cubs cling to a one-point lead before sending the serve out of bounds. The Breakers also send their hit out of bounds, redeeming themselves with a hit from the outside on the next play. The Cubs have their hit fly out of bounds but win the point on a close touch call. Wedbush serves one that is too spicy for the Breakers to return, prompting a timeout from the away side before things get out of hand. The score is 19-16 in favor of the Cubs out of the timeout. The Breakers manage to get a hit past the Cubs before the home side redeems itself with a Mortimer kill from the middle. The Cubs stay focused and active on a long rally that ends with Campbell marking an outside kill. Posivak makes a spectacular dig before the Cubs find Turner for an opposite kill that puts them up 22-17. The next play sees the Cubs botch an easy dig before finding Turner for the redemption point. Loyola sends its next serve past the end line before setting up Lynch for a wide-open middle hit that puts the Cubs up 24-19. The Cubs close out the set with a strong serve from Campbell that facilitates an easier set up for Turner’s dagger of an opposite kill.

Score 25-19

Set 2

The six that starts the second set is the same six that began the game. The Cubs look to clean up the at times shaky first set that saw the Breakers score the majority of their points off unforced errors. The Cubs serve to open the set before finding Campbell for an authoritative opposite hit. The Breakers send two consecutive hits past the end line and find themselves down three early. Posivak makes a fantastic dig that allows Lynch to nab an uncontested tip for the team’s fourth uncontested point. The Cubs force a timeout before continuing their utter dominance with an outside hit from Turner. A long rally goes against the Cubs as they send their hit into the net for the first point of the set for the Breakers. An attempted block from the Breakers lands out of bounds before the Cubs find Campbell for an opposite hit that puts them up 7-1. The Breakers can’t seem to break the momentum as an outside hit sideouts for yet another home score. The Cubs fail to communicate, allowing a subsequent point before the Breakers send a serve past the end line. Mortimer meets a hitter at the peak and marks a block that puts the team up 10-2. The next block attempt lands on the side of the Cubs before the Cubs can find Campbell for another kill. Campbell then follows up the play with an ace before sending the next serve just past the end line. The Breakers sideout a serve of their own before the Cubs gift them a point off a failed easy dig. Mortimer floats after a Wedbush set for a sweet hit from the middle that scores and gives the serve back to the Cubs. The Breakers then whiff on an attempted before the Cubs send their serve out of bounds. A floating serve sets up a statement hit from Lynch who slams one over two blockers for the point. The Cubs then send another serve into the net before the Breakers make the same error. A sloppy rally goes the way of the Cubs as Campbell is able to set to an open area for the point. The Breakers send an outside hit out of bounds before Lynch expertly stuffs the Breakers’ middle. The Cubs have a block land out of bounds before Peters sends a hit off the chest of the Laguna Beach middle for a point. The Cubs have a hit land on their own side before a beautiful opposite swing from Campbell finds the one spot. Some smart play sees the Cubs find Campbell again for a hit to the same spot for yet another point. The Cubs lose the next point, though, as another block lands out of bounds. The Cubs fall short on a tip before the Breakers mark an ace. The Breakers’ libero can only take so much after he digs a few from Campbell but can’t a Peters swing from the outside. The Cubs give up more points when a hitter gets blocked two times on the bounce. The team is able to close out the set 25-14 on a tip for the final point.

Score 25-14

Set 3

The final set sees the same six start in the quest for a sweep in the opening post-season match. Serving first, the Breakers switch up their formations but end up sending their first block out of bounds for the Cub point. The Cubs send their serve out of bounds before a smart tip from Lynch gets the team the serve back. The team just doesn’t look as dominant as they have their hit from the opposite side blocked before giving up a hit. The Cubs compound their struggles after an attempted tip gets blocked before two consecutive hits fail to score. The team is down 3-7 after the opposite hit gets blocked yet again. The Breakers hit from the opposite and score as the net changes the trajectory on the libero. Finding themselves down 3-8, the Cubs need a timeout. The team seems to respond early as Campbell marks an outside kill to start. A smart play from the Cubs gets overturned off a controversial call before the Breakers send their hit out of bounds. The Cubs then block one one that lands out of bounds to find themselves down five. Turner bails the team out with an outside hit that scores before the Cubs send their hit out of bounds. The Cubs have a close call go the way of the away side as a hit is deemed out of bounds. A point goes the way of the Cubs shortly before an athletic return goes to waste due to an outside for the Breakers. The Breakers get caught on a lift and send the serve the way of the Cubs who are down 8-13. The Cubs then send their serve into the net before getting emphatically blocked on the outside. The Cubs pull one back with a Campbell hit from the opposite side but can’t dig one that comes their way. The Cubs finally get a hit to connect but again fail to dig one of their own. The away side is up 10-18 when Campbell is able to put some heat on his outside hit for the point. The Cubs give up a tip but are bailed out by a bad miscommunication that sees the Breakers let the ball fall on their own side. Laguna Beach sends a hit past the end line before the Cubs get called for a back-row attack. The deficit is 13-21 as the Cubs call a timeout to try to make a late push for what could have been the deciding set. Out of the timeout, the Cubs get two consecutive outside hits from Turner before the Breakers send a hit out of bounds. The Cubs then follow the momentum up with numerous errors before Campbell gets a strong hit from the outside.

Score 17-25

Set 4

The lineup remains unchanged as the Cubs attempt to recapture the momentum for a win, though they do change the rotation to get better matchups to start. The Cubs have the first serve but aren’t able to parlay that into points as they have a hit blocked and send two out of bounds to go down early. The Cubs finally get some points on the board as Campbell marks one from the outside. Wedbush makes a smart play as he dunks one for the deficit to be cut to one before a Peters ace. The Breakers are able to mark a hit from the opposite side but lose a long rally as Turner bounces one off the chest of the libero. The Cubs lose another point, blocking one that lands out of bounds, before giving up a hit from the middle. The Cubs have had real trouble with the southpaw for the Breakers but manage to find Turner to tie up the score at six. The Breakers score from the outside again but Campbell marks an outside kill of his won to even up the score once more. Beautiful passing leads to a Peters hit from the outside, setting up a Turner ace. Turner serves the same man and gets a second consecutive ace, forcing a Breaker timeout because of the 10-7 Cub lead. The team give up a point out of the timeout but redeem themselves when they find Campbell after a long rally for an outside hit. The Cubs send a serve into the net but find Turner for a hit that beats the blockers for a Cub point. The away side gets the ball through three blockers for a point before finding their lefty hitter for another hit. The Cub lead is just one when the Breakers send a serve into the net before Peters marks an ace. The Cubs give up a hit from the opposite side but the Breakers send their serve into the net yet again. Sending their serve into the net, the Cubs win back a point when the Breaker tip falls out of bounds. The Cubs find Turner on the opposite side for a hit that multiple blockers for the score. The team does the same with Campbell from the outside, earning an 18-13 lead and forcing a Breaker timeout. Out of the short break in play, the Breakers prove unable to beat the Cub blockers twice before the Cubs give up another hit. Some smart passing ends with an exhilarating hit from Turner that puts the home side up 20-15 before the Cubs fail to return a hit. The Breakers send their serve out of bounds before the Cubs step over the middle divider. The Cubs manage a score from the outside from Peters before following it up with another hit. Two blockers get beat, though, and the score is 23-18 in favor of the Cubs. The team is able to find Campbell, though, for a hti that puts the team in commanding position. The Cubs miss a serve but finish the game strong with a hit to the middle.

Score 25-19