Volleyball: Flintridge Prep Gets Defensive In Win Over Firebaugh

The Flintridge Prep boys volleyball team was on the ropes. Firebaugh had just ripped of seven straight points to take the second set and tie Thursday’s second round CIF-Southern Section Division 5 match at one.

Throughout the set Firebaugh senior Erie French burned the Rebels with an array of powerful kills that left the Rebels defense reeling and the Flintridge Prep coaching staff searching for answers.

Well, they found one in senior Kenyatta Smith. After sitting out the majority of the second set, Smith’s hulking 6-foot-10 frame proved the perfect antidote for the Falcon attack as the Rebels controlled the final two sets to take home a 25-20, 19-25, 25-13, 25-16 win. 

The Rebels now likely face top-seed Vistamar of the Santa Fe League at home on Saturday at a time yet to be determined.

“(French) is an amazing player on their team,” Rebels coach Sean Beattie said. “He was killing us and going the same direction almost every swing. So what we did is we moved our middle over and we gave up blocking the fives because they weren’t setting the five very much. And we moved the outside in to basically block the middle. We completely eliminated his cross-court hit, which got him a little flustered.”

With Smith’s big paws discouraging the Falcon outsider hitters from attacking in their comfort zone, the flummoxed Firebaugh squad began to press and crash shots into the net or well wide of the court for unforced errors.

“He did better changing hitting for them because they saw him up there and they started to try to hit around,” Beattie said. “(Aside from French) everybody else looked like they were going around him and right into our defense. … He definitely changed what they wanted to do today.”

Smith didn’t just set the tone on the defensive end as he teamed up with senior outside hitter Jared Norsworthy to form a deadly one-two combination for senior setter Kieren Mulroy, who finished with 43 assists.

“Jared and Kenyatta, those are the guys that put the ball down for us,” Beattie said. “Everyone can hit but those are the two guys that get the crowd on their feet. Jared had at least three that I remember that hit the ground and then hit the backboard.”

Norsworthy and Smith each finished with 12 kills for the Rebels, many of which were delivered with momentum-altering authority. Norsworthy in particular provided the majority of the game-changing blows. It was his thunderous kill that gave the Rebels an 11-10 lead in the fourth and final set as they rallied from a 9-6 deficit to clinch the match with a 25-16 win.

“It just gets my team pumped and helps us out a lot with energy,” Norsworthy said.

Nolan Jimbo and Chad Cosse, who was moved up from the junior varsity squad after Kory Hamane was lost for the season after he tore his ACL at basketball camp, each finished with nine kills. Smith added five blocks, while Norsworthy finished with four.

After the game Beattie also pointed out the effort from Alex Bates, whose effective passing was one of the biggest keys to the game.

The Rebels also got an unexpected boost in the form of four aces from Jimbo, the final two sealing Flintridge Prep’s win the third and fourth sets.

“We’re not a very good serving team,” Beattie said. “We have more negatives than aces this year. In this game I thought we served the spots that I wanted them to serve.”