On Wednesday, March 15 the Beverly Hills High Men’s Volleyball team took on the Robert F. Kennedy Community School (RFK) in a non-conference matchup and won. Led by head coach Kofi Yankey, the Normans showed up and defended their home court – where they have been strongest all season – and soundly beat the Bobcats 3 games to 0.

Their win against RFK came as their third in four matches, which included a close loss to rival Hawthorne High School, whom they will face one more time again this season in an important league matchup on March 26. 

Beverly Hills struggled earlier this season against higher-rated conference teams, amassing a 4-11 overall record. However, they have found their stride in league play, going a respectable 2-1, while rounding out the big three of the Ocean League with Hawthorne and Leuzinger. While RFK has fared slightly better overall this season, they rank near the bottom of the standings in the Central Division. Facing RFK in this non-conference matchup at home, Beverly Hills was looking to continue with their momentum as they head towards league playoffs. 

Both of the first two games of the set fared the same, remaining close until ultimately Beverly Hills was able to pull away both times 25-19. The third and final match was decidedly more interesting, as it appeared that RFK came out of the game swinging with their backs against the wall down 0-2. Beverly Hills appeared to believe the match was theirs for the taking, and stumbled out of the gate early, down 10-13 halfway through the game. An important timeout taken by Coach Kofi, allowed his boys to settle down and find their composure. It seemed to work, as the Normans finished off game three on a 15-3 point run, and ended the game 25-16 with their strongest victory of the match.

RFK performed admirably, staying close in both of the first two games. Their early lead in game three was due in part to the excellent play of their middle blocker, #10 Jonathan Soto, who came through with several crucial blocks that led to points, including a few kill shots off of strong volleys. 

I caught up with Coach Yankey after the game and asked him who he was most impressed by on the court. He mentioned both seniors and co-captains, #10 Josh Enayati and #2 Lucas Alvarez. 

“They both really stood out today, and they were both all hands on deck,” he stated. “They were able to really help us shift gears and started serving the ball well. After that, I told the supporting cast to be ready when the ball was set up.” 

When asked about the timeout that he took in the third game while down a few points, Yankey said “I was trying to see what I could do to disrupt them and throw off their rhythm,” he said. “I told them to settle down, and not to take the game for granted. You guys have to talk to each other, and tell each other when there is a problem out there.”

When asked about the state of their season so far, Yankey stated, “So far, so good, we’re division 5-6 and most of the games at the start of the season were against division 1-2 competition.” He added,  “We lost to Hawthorne in 5 games last time we saw them, and would lose the last game 16-14, where guys seemed to have a lot of nerves It wasn’t a grudge match, but we wanted to play them at our house, and the guys really stepped up to the plate”. 

When asked about the remainder of the season, he said “Tuesday is a big game, we were missing some players last time we saw them due to injury. Because they play Hawthorne next, who we barely lost to. I try to tell the kids it’s about having fun, I am just trying to keep them consistent, and I tell them to be team players and be enthusiastic.” 

Beverly Hills faces Leuzinger at home on March 19 at 3:15 p.m., with their biggest test of the season thus far going up against the league’s best team. Leuzinger is 4-0 in Ocean League play. They will face Leuzinger again the week after for an away game, and they will be looking to set the tone early against the league leaders as they look to maintain their excellent home-court play.

Photo by the author.