(Updated – March 11, 2025 at 7:35 pm PDT)
The Santa Monica Vikings boys’ volleyball team swept the Morningside Monarchs on March 11 at home, ending the Monarch’s winning streak.
The Vikings opened with a strong start in the first set, with a kill by outside hitter Colin Hughes, who also followed up with an ace. Despite making unforced errors early, the Monarchs could not outlast the Vikings, with Hughes scoring more kills – forcing Morningside into their first timeout.
The Vikings pushed past the Monarchs through the first set with ease. Their presence in the middle was unmatched, earning overpass kills and blocks. They were able to pick apart Morningside’s serve receive, winning the first set 25-12.
The momentum on the Vikings’ side carried into the second, where they continued to stay strong. The Monarchs struggled to send the ball back over the net, allowing the Viking offense to heat up. Hughes scored yet another early kill and middle blocker Alex Beekman scored off of a tempo set.
The Monarchs were able to force some miscommunication between the Viking passers, allowing them to score aces. The Vikings bounced back with an ace, winning a joust at the net followed by back to back kills. A missed serve by the Monarchs at set point allowed the Vikings to jump ahead by two sets.
The Monarchs picked up their play in the third set, forcing the Vikings to make unforced errors early. The Vikings struggled to send balls over as a result of long rallies with strong defense from both sides. As Santa Monica fought to catch up, the Monarch offense continued to heat up with players earning kills.
Despite a regal effort by the Monarchs, they were unable make up the difference. The Vikings were able to win off of the Monarchs’ unforced errors, as a missed serve called the match in favor of Santa Monica: 25-22.
(Original article below)
SANTA MONICA (March 9, 2025) – The Morningside Monarchs, based in Inglewood, California, will drive north on the 405, then head west on the 10 Freeway, on Tuesday to play against the Santa Monica Vikings.
According to Max Preps, if you can believe the AI generated and scraped info, the Monarchs come into Tuesday’s game with only two pre-league warm-ups. Last month, Morningside beat both Jefferson and Animo Leadership in three sets.
But the Monarchs will have their work cut out for them when they face the Vikings.
Despite a loss on Thursday to the El Segundo Eagles, the Santa Monica Vikings have been playing well.
Jaffa, the Setter, has been connecting will with his Middles: Beekman and Heller. His sets have been speeding up and the timing with the blocker is getting a lot better. Both Beekman and Heller are over 6’2″ and can easily get above the net in order to make powerful kills.
Kapen, the team’s Libero, has tapped into his position and is passing the ball well to his Setter and the Outside Hitters. He is playing great defense and we expect him to handle anything the Monarchs send his way.
The Outside Hitters are serving, defending, passing, and making the kills for the important points. In Thursday’s game, Hughes has an estimated 17 kills against El Segundo while Saunders had 12 beautiful kills that really helped the team.
Badr had several impressive blocks against each of the Pilkvist twins that made the crowd “aah” and “ooh” in awe of his defensive prowess.
Tang – who has the most positive attitude and who rotates in as Outside Hitter to serve, aced several important serves. He also picked up several balls that kept the game alive.
We will live stream the game between Morningside and Santa Monica here on 3rdstreet.tv.
Click on the player below to watch the game.
Update courtesy of Adriana Brady.
