Warren High stays on top with win over Downey

Downey senior opposite, Owen Rosales, is shown taking a shot against Warren's Sergio Garcia that was blocked Tuesday in a Gateway League match. Warren won, 3-0, (25-15, 25-14, 25-13). Photos by John Sherrard

DOWNEY – In the early going of the Gateway League action for boys volleyball, it looks like a Downey-Warren show until the showdown in the last match of the regular season.

Coming into Tuesday’s match, both teams were undefeated in league with 3-0 records. The nearest teams in the standings (Lynwood, Paramount and Dominguez) all had a combined three league wins between them.

In recent years it has been a back-and-forth Downey-Warren league champion in the old San Gabriel Valley League. Downey, which split with Warren, 1-1, in league and also won in a tournament game against the Bears last year, is the defending champion.

Previous to that, Warren won in ’21, followed by a back-to-back Viking championship in ’18 and ’19.

Warren won in 2017 with a 10-1 record. The last team other than Downey or Warren to win league was Gahr in 2016.

Downey and Warren will face each other for a possible league title on the line Thursday (April 20) at Downey.

In Thursday’s match, which was played in front of a nearly full gym at Warren, the Bears won, 25-15, 25-14, 25-13 to improve to 4-0 in league and 12-5 overall.

Downey slips to 3-1 and 9-11.

“We just happen to have some guys that have stuck around with me in the program and stayed here,” Warren coach Scott Lane said. “I have fourth-year seniors, guys that have been with me since they were freshmen. It’s starting to pay off a little bit and it looks smooth.”

In the opening set with Warren holding a 10-point, 23-13 lead, the Bears had a net error, and the Warren server committed a service error and Downey trailed, 23-15.

The Bears scored the last two points to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five sets.

The second game was a close through the first half of the set, with the Bears holding a three-point, 12-9 lead. Both sophomore outside hitters Madden Iamaleava and senior Sergio Garcia led the Bears early with two big kills each.

“Having two pin hitters (outside) relieves some stress off of me,” Garcia said. “It really makes a big difference. Iamaleava, who holds down the other side, didn’t play last season due to football commitments.

Garcia, who no doubt has the biggest serve on the team, kept the pressure up throughout the match with his booming serves.

Downey senior libero, Diego Fierro, did his best to ward off multiple hits by both Garcia and Iamaleava in the match.

“My serve felt phenomenal (Tuesday),” Garcia added. “It was completely more consistent and was feeling it (Tuesday).

“I’ve played here for three years and I’ll be honest, it’s just amazing and it hypes me up with everyone cheering.”

Garcia was referring to the longstanding rival between the two schools and the packed gym.

“(Fierro) has been with us for a really, really long time,” said second-year Downey coach Matthew Lostetter, of his senior libero. “We like to face a lot of D1 schools early and he sees big arms early on. He should be used to it and seen lots of high-level swings.”

Warren began to pull away with a 7-1 run, behind two kills by Garcia and one by Iamaleava, to build up a 19-10 advantage.

Downey senior opposite Owen Rosales and senior middle Charles Rhinelander each had a kill to briefly slow down the Bears to trail 20-12.

“It’s a big deal and it’s the only two high schools in Downey,” said Rosales, of the rivalry. “The games are always a big deal, and the crowds are always here, and the games are always tight.

“I think the team just need to focus in and lock in, because we have the talent and good enough players. It’s just harnessing that and being able to use it on the court and use it all the way and we should be good.”

The Bears finished off the set with a 6-2 run for the 25-14 win.

Just near the end of the set for the Vikings, junior outside Nathan Thai stopped Warren from a set point with a kill, to trail, 24-14.

A big hit by Rosales, was beyond the back line to give the win to Warren.

The third set saw Warren get off to a quick start, building up a 13-6 lead.

Highlighting the lead were more big kills by Garcia and Iamaleava. In the first half of the set, Downey only had three offensive points, which included a big kill from Rhinelander. The rest of the Bears’ points came off of their own mistakes.

The latter part of the set was mostly all Warren, as they finished with a 12-5 run to finish off the match.

The Downey crowd became energized in the set after a kill by Rhinelander, to trail, 13-8. That was followed by two hits out of bounds by the Bears, and Downey was the closest since earlier in the set.

Warren led, 13-10.

A few minutes later in the set, Rhinelander had a big block at the net to again trail by three, 15-12.

However, that was the second to last point of the match for the Vikings, as Garcia’s six serving points basically put the match away.

Iamaleava finished off the match with a kill up high for the win.

Madden Iamaleava and the rest of the Warren team was without their big hitter, Nico Iamaleava, who finished school early to get ready for the next level at Tennessee for his football career.

Nico Iamaleava, who was a big part of the Warren volleyball program and Madden’s older brother, was about to begin Spring practice for Tennessee soon.

“If Nico was on our team (this year), that would be disgusting,” smiled Maddon Iamaleava, of the “what if’s” had he played volleyball this season.

“It didn’t necessarily hurt us, because we knew coming into the season, we weren’t going to have Nico, so we were mentally prepared as a team to (build) around the people we have.”

Lostetter, who graduated from Downey, said of the long-running rivalry, “We’ve had a long history of this rivalry, and honestly however stressful it can be, it’s something that both sides can look forward to.

“Something that Scotty (Lane) and I look forward to is if we could increase the level of volleyball in this community with these two big competitors here. We don’t have a lot of clubs in the area, but we’re trying to extend that branch over to our middle schools. We have four here in the city.”

What they said:

Scott Lane, Warren coach: “It’s about us and how good we can be. We have to put in the work. We respect their (Downey) program. We’re here to try to do something that they’ve done. They’ve won a CIF title (2009, 2018). We’ve never won a CIF title. It’s hard to do.”

Charles Rhinelander, Downey senior middle: “It’s crucial to get the early lead, but I felt that wasn’t out problem. Even if we did that, we just fell apart. We needed some more points to stay ahead the whole set.

Based on our loss, it’s (rematch) a must win. We need to come back stronger. They’re coming to Downey, and we need to play our best.”

Matthew Lostetter, Downey coach: “Downey and Warren, we like to look at ourselves as the last competitor before CIF. One of us will take league. That will send us to a better seed and then second place will go to a not as great of a seed. But usually, it’s us or them.”