Sage Hill boys’ volleyball sweeps Hillcrest to start CIF repeat bid

Sage Hill romped to take its first step in what it hopes will be another CIF Southern Section boys’ volleyball championship run, and the focal point — again, and of course — was Jackson Cryst.

The 6-foot-10 senior outside hitter, who last year transformed the Lightning from a middling program into something of a powerhouse, delivered 18 kills and served up five aces as the No. 10 seed swept visiting Riverside Hillcrest, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, in Wednesday evening’s Division 4 opener.

Cryst is a devastating presence, all over the court, but if Sage Hill (15-11) is to conquer four more foes — starting with a second-round trek to Pasadena Poly (15-3) on Saturday at 4 p.m. — it’s because it’s no longer all about him. First-year head coach Jordan Hoppe’s 6-2 spread offense, far beyond last year’s set-it-for-Cryst approach, requires contributions from everyone.

It took a rugged regular-season campaign, with playoff aspirations teetering until the finish, to get things right, and now the Lightning is humming: four wins in a row, starting with a five-set comeback win two weeks ago over Portola, a pivotal result in its at-large playoff berth.

“I feel like we’re playing our best volleyball,” said the Long Beach State-bound Cryst, last year’s Division 5 Player of the Year. “All year, it just kind of felt so off. Last year, we had this confidence, this chip on our shoulder. We didn’t really have that [this year] until I’d say the Portola win.

“[That] was just a moment for us where you had to find it. You know, you either do it or you don’t.”

Sports

Jackson Cryst’s 54 kills send Sage Hill boys’ volleyball to first CIF championship

The Lightning defeat the fourth-seeded Titans 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 on Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 boys’ volleyball final at Cerritos College.

May 12, 2024

Hoppe, an AVP Beach pro who played at Orange Coast College and Concordia University in Irvine and was a Lightning assistant coach five years ago, has brought to the program superior tactical and organizational sophistication, emphasizing team over superstar.

Playing vital roles are outside hitter Ryan Manesh (six kills, three aces and a block against Hillcrest), Connor Gapp (27 assists, four kills, one ace, one block), who has transitioned from All-CIF opposite to chief setter in the 6-2 scheme, and fellow junior Dylan Han, an All-CIF hitter now at opposite.

“[Last year there was] too much reliance on some of our bigger guys, and we needed to find a way to spread the love, spread the ball,” Hoppe said. “We’ve been able to really grill that in practice and make sure guys were really working hard, getting the middles involved, getting everyone involved, giving everybody a chance to get going. We want those guys as involved as possible.”

It was evident in Wednesday’s victory, in which the Lightning shared the ball while using mid-game runs (11-4 in the first set, 8-2 in the second, 14-6 in the third) to pull away from Hillcrest (23-8), an Ivy League co-champion. The service game, led by back-to-back Cryst aces twice in the second set, often handcuffed the Trojans’ attack, and the net battle was won largely through Cryst’s work limiting standout sophomore outside hitter Evan Eugene (10 kills).

A good first step. More will be needed.

“We can’t get it in our heads that it’s going to be a breeze again because we were able to win a championship last year,” Manesh said. “Now we’re in a higher division. So we have to push even harder. ... I think we have it in us.”

Cryst said it’s “easy to be, like, ‘Oh, we won it last year, we’ll just do it again.’”

“It’s easy to be complacent,” he said. “But this is a whole new year, new offense, new guys. And I think that’s also inspiring for some guys, because they’re, like, ‘It’s my turn now to get this. I don’t just have to be behind Jackson hitting a bunch of high balls.’

“It would be a really good team win.”