Post by 808empath on Apr 29, 2005 17:46:26 GMT -5
www.dailybreeze.com/sports/prep/articles/1520767.html
Friday, April 29, 2005
Mira Costa's 'Dragon' breathes fire in big win
Rawson serves, spikes and leads the Mustangs by Loyola in a battle of CIF volleyball powers.
By Bob Holtzman
DAILY BREEZE
Mira Costa fans and teammates have nicknamed senior middle blocker Matt Rawson, "the Dragon," because he's so emotional on the court, it looks like he could breathe fire when he screams in excitement.
Well, that and the fact that he's skinny, 6-foot-8, has an incredible vertical leap and uses it to uncoil a smoking-hot jump serve.
The Hawaii-bound senior lived up to his nickname on Wednesday night as Mira Costa dropped Loyola, 25-20, 28-30, 25-14, 25-22 in a nonleague volleyball match at Loyola Marymount University.
Rawson had 17 kills, 12 blocks and 5 aces for the Mustangs (19-1), who secured their place as the No. 1 team in the CIF Division I poll with the convincing win over No. 3 Loyola (20-5), the two-time defending Division I champion.
He served for 10 points, including seven straight in the third game, turning a hard-earned 17-13 lead into a 24-14 advantage.
"My serve was off in the first game and I missed a couple in the second game so in the third game I knew I had to step it up," Rawson said. "I knew I had to come in and get some aces and I did my job."
Coach Mike Cook said Rawson was one of several players that served tough for the Mustangs. Senior outside hitter and setter Matt Wade served for nine points, including a critical five-point stretch in the fourth game.
His counterpart on the court, senior Max Klineman, served for 11 points, including the last two of the match.
"We know serving and passing is key to winning," Klineman said. "It's something we work on every practice. Loyola struggled with serving and it gave us some momentum."
Loyola committed 11 service errors and struggled at the net, scoring just two blocks for the match. Mira Costa's offense took advantage, with Rawson leading the way but several others enjoying solid performances.
Jason Palacios had 16 kills, including the match-winner. Chris Icaza had nine kills with six digs.
Quint Carroll had six kills, played tough at the net and served well. Wade had six kills and 26 assists.
Klineman added three kills and 26 assists. Eric Leserman had six digs.
"I was feeling good hitting the ball and I saw early on they weren't stopping me," Rawson said. "Until they could stop me, my setters went to me every time. And once they committed to me, we moved to our outside and opposite hitters."
The frontline made things tough for Loyola senior C.J. Schellenberg, who had a match-high 20 kills but needed 44 swings to make it happen.
"It's no secret he's our go-to guy so we tried to establish the middle but had to go to him earlier then we wanted to," Loyola coach Michael Boehle said.
Rawson said the scouting report on Schellenberg helped prepare the Mustangs for the left-handed power hitter.
"We controlled him, we didn't shut him down," Wade said. "But we controlled him."
There was no controlling Rawson for Loyola, which might have been wise to get in line for an autograph.
"He's incredible -- I mean the guy is signing autographs after the game. Where else does that happen?" Klineman said. "It was almost like we're fans when he's crushing those serves.
''Quint and I were just looking at each other, knowing that he was making it easy for us."
Friday, April 29, 2005
Mira Costa's 'Dragon' breathes fire in big win
Rawson serves, spikes and leads the Mustangs by Loyola in a battle of CIF volleyball powers.
By Bob Holtzman
DAILY BREEZE
Mira Costa fans and teammates have nicknamed senior middle blocker Matt Rawson, "the Dragon," because he's so emotional on the court, it looks like he could breathe fire when he screams in excitement.
Well, that and the fact that he's skinny, 6-foot-8, has an incredible vertical leap and uses it to uncoil a smoking-hot jump serve.
The Hawaii-bound senior lived up to his nickname on Wednesday night as Mira Costa dropped Loyola, 25-20, 28-30, 25-14, 25-22 in a nonleague volleyball match at Loyola Marymount University.
Rawson had 17 kills, 12 blocks and 5 aces for the Mustangs (19-1), who secured their place as the No. 1 team in the CIF Division I poll with the convincing win over No. 3 Loyola (20-5), the two-time defending Division I champion.
He served for 10 points, including seven straight in the third game, turning a hard-earned 17-13 lead into a 24-14 advantage.
"My serve was off in the first game and I missed a couple in the second game so in the third game I knew I had to step it up," Rawson said. "I knew I had to come in and get some aces and I did my job."
Coach Mike Cook said Rawson was one of several players that served tough for the Mustangs. Senior outside hitter and setter Matt Wade served for nine points, including a critical five-point stretch in the fourth game.
His counterpart on the court, senior Max Klineman, served for 11 points, including the last two of the match.
"We know serving and passing is key to winning," Klineman said. "It's something we work on every practice. Loyola struggled with serving and it gave us some momentum."
Loyola committed 11 service errors and struggled at the net, scoring just two blocks for the match. Mira Costa's offense took advantage, with Rawson leading the way but several others enjoying solid performances.
Jason Palacios had 16 kills, including the match-winner. Chris Icaza had nine kills with six digs.
Quint Carroll had six kills, played tough at the net and served well. Wade had six kills and 26 assists.
Klineman added three kills and 26 assists. Eric Leserman had six digs.
"I was feeling good hitting the ball and I saw early on they weren't stopping me," Rawson said. "Until they could stop me, my setters went to me every time. And once they committed to me, we moved to our outside and opposite hitters."
The frontline made things tough for Loyola senior C.J. Schellenberg, who had a match-high 20 kills but needed 44 swings to make it happen.
"It's no secret he's our go-to guy so we tried to establish the middle but had to go to him earlier then we wanted to," Loyola coach Michael Boehle said.
Rawson said the scouting report on Schellenberg helped prepare the Mustangs for the left-handed power hitter.
"We controlled him, we didn't shut him down," Wade said. "But we controlled him."
There was no controlling Rawson for Loyola, which might have been wise to get in line for an autograph.
"He's incredible -- I mean the guy is signing autographs after the game. Where else does that happen?" Klineman said. "It was almost like we're fans when he's crushing those serves.
''Quint and I were just looking at each other, knowing that he was making it easy for us."
