Merced High boys volleyball team’s playoff run continues with shot at section championship

Losing in the section semifinals a year ago was tough to stomach for the Merced High School boys volleyball team.

The second-seeded Bears didn’t want to experience that pain again and made sure of it with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-15 sweep of No. 3 West Park in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs on Tuesday night.

Merced (28-5) advances to the section championship game on Saturday against top-seeded Nevada Union at William Jessup University in Rocklin at 1 p.m.

“We’re extremely excited,” said Bears coach Joel Garcia. “We missed out last year with a semifinal loss to Vista Del Lago. Going into that game four of our starters were sick and we had no energy. We didn’t want to be in that same situation this year. We didn’t want that same feeling.”

Senior Max Phong has been the Bears’ leader during his whole career and that hasn’t changed during their postseason run.

Phong recorded 15 kills, five aces and 15 assists in the win over West Park. That followed 21 kills, 18 digs and 25 assists in a 3-1 win over Lathrop in the second round.

“Ever since he was a freshman, Max has lived, breathed and eaten volleyball,” Garcia said. “He grew up in a volleyball atmosphere. He sees things on the court that nobody else sees. He sees angles out there that nobody else sees.”

Junior Samson Vang finished with 21 assists against West Park. He finished with 13 kills and 28 assists against Lathrop.

Garcia says Vang asked coaches if he could step into a new role this year and he’s flourished.

“The chemistry between Max and Samson is great,” Garcia said. “They’re friends on and off the court.”

The Bears will face a much taller Nevada Union team, but Garcia says they’ve been facing taller teams all year.

Merced’s tallest player is 6-foot-1 sophomore Pete Filice.

“We’ve been overcoming a height disadvantage for a while,” Garcia said. “Our kids are going to dig in. They know what they have to do to win points.”