APTOS — Despite graduating only one senior from a team that finished runner-up in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League last season, not many around the county had the Aptos High Mariners pegged as serious contenders this spring.
Aptos senior outside hitter Kacey Losik said talk of the Mariners’ demise started months prior to the season, and only grew larger as the season approached.
Could Aptos hang with a loaded Mt. Madonna squad?
Was last year’s come-from-behind victory over champion Pacific Collegiate School a fluke?
Who would replace All-SCCAL First Team opposite Jayson Guy?
“People thought we were a fourth place, or even fifth place team,” Losik said. “We lost a pretty big senior last year in Jayson (Guy), so I guess people just forgot that we had other guys.”
Losik, the SCCAL Offensive Player of the Year last season, and the Mariners’ “other guys” have made the rest of the league sorry for omitting them from the equation.
With three league games left, Aptos is only two wins away from clinching at least a share of its third league championship in the last four seasons. The Mariners have had a little help along the way — P.C.S. beating Mt. Madonna on Tuesday left them all alone in the league’s top spot — but for the majority of the season, they’ve controlled their own destiny with dramatic comebacks, various lineup changes and a “next-point” mentality.
Losik called the season a bit of a “miracle,” when taking into consideration the talk from outside their building leading up the start of the year.
“Miracle, that’s a word for it,” said Aptos senior outside hitter Jordan Notari. “I thought we were going to be better than last year, but, at the same time, I guess you could call last year a miracle, too.”
Like 2017, Aptos got off to a slow start this spring. The Mariners were dismantled and swept (25-18, 25-14, 28-26) by Mt. Madonna in their SCCAL opener, and were on the verge of losing to P.C.S. in their first meeting before rallying for a five-set win to announce their arrival to the rest of the league.
The Mariners couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly what changed in the third set of their win over the defending champs, but they said it’s been palpable.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Aptos senior setter Michael Spinelli. “It was a little bit of a lineup change by [head coach Jake Landel] and the rest is history.”
Aptos proved its resurgence wasn’t by accident last week in a four-set win over Mt. Madonna, and another five-set win over P.C.S.
Losik had a triple-double in each game, and solidified himself as one of the frontrunners for the league’s M.V.P., but the Mariners’ star said his teammates have been the reason for the team’s 10-match SCCAL winning streak. Notari and Jackson Shirley have provided much-needed complementary swings. Christian Segura and Bryce Edwards have been defensive stalwarts in the back row. And Noah Eitzen and Hayden Mennie have found their groove in the middle.
Losik, the Mariners’ lone returning first team all-league selection from last season, is only the tip of the iceberg of what has turned into a well-balanced team.
“He’s the M.V.P. and I definitely get it when they say that about Kacey,” Spinelli said. “It’s kind of like LeBron, but when LeBron was on the Heat and had a supporting cast. I definitely think that’s what we have here…It all kind of came together this year.”
The Mariners’ winning concoction has been brewing for the last three seasons. Losik, Segura, Eitzen and Spinelli were all on the varsity team as freshmen when Aptos won the league title and advanced to the Central Coast Section Division II championship game behind Losik’s older brother, Kolby.
Segura said that bond between the quartet has slowly germinated to the rest of the team as the season has gone on. The play on the court has improved because the personalities on the team have meshed through practices, comebacks and pregame meals at burger. in Aptos.
“We have a lot of chemistry,” Segura said. “We all trust in each other.”
Added Losik, matter-of-factly: “No one thought we were going to be very good, and then we weren’t very good, and then we beat some good teams. People think we’re good now.”
With a couple of more wins, they’ll have the banner to prove it.
Aptos hosts Harbor High tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Here’s a look at the rest of the high school volleyball action from this week:
• MVC 3, Soledad 0 — Will Forbes had seven kills, four aces and a block to help Monte Vista Christian sweep Soledad High, 25-13, 25-21, 25-13, on Tuesday in Monterey Bay League Pacific division action.
Tanner Batt added eight kills, Andrew Chang chipped in five kills and 14 assists and Jeric Baladad made 19 digs.
• Mt. Madonna 3, Harbor 0 — The Hawks swept Harbor High on Wednesday night to bounce back from Tuesday’s SCCAL loss to P.C.S. The scores were: 25-20, 25-20, 25-23.
Brigg Busenhart had 10 kills, Zach Wagner made 37 assists and Lucas Caudil made three blocks.
Mt. Madonna (22-6, 9-2) welcomes in Santa Cruz High tonight at 6:30 p.m.
