Northside’s comeback beats Payton

Wesley Morioka and Luke Sobieraj set the tone on Thursday as Northside rallied to beat Payton 19-25, 25-21, 25-22 in Public League Gold boys volleyball action.

“Serving is probably the most important aspect of the game and I just knew we needed to serve well to win,” Morioka said. “You just need to put the fans out of your mind and think you’re the only one on the court.”

Payton (9-5, 5-1 Public League Gold) got off to a fast start in the first set behind the arm of freshman Earl Schultz.

Schultz had four of his team-high 13 kills in the first set and added an ace as the Grizzlies jumped on top of a late-arriving Northside squad, en route to their 25-19 first set win.

That’s when Morioka and Sobieraj took over.

Morioka had seven of his 11 kills, while Sobieraj had five of his game-high 15 kills in the set. Because Northside (6-4, 4-2) runs a 6-2 offense, in which Sobieraj and Morioka are the primary setters and hitters, the two ended up setting up each other for most of their kills.

It wasn’t until the third set, when the crowd, and the Payton players, saw how dominant the two Northside players could be.With Morioka at the service line and Northside down 5-3, the Mustangs rattled off seven straight points, including three aces by Morioka, to take a quick 10-5 lead.

The set ended up being one of runs and included three ties and four lead changes.Sobieraj had seven kills in the set, while Morioka added three more aces (seven total) and two kills, as Northside squeaked out the win.

“These are the most fun type of games to play,” said Morioka. “It’s fun to play a good team in front of their home crowd. It’s what high school sports is all about and always fun to share it with your teammates.”