There is a saying in the world of sports that “defense wins championships.” and San Marino High School boys’ varsity volleyball coach Tony Chou is putting a lot of stock in those words these days.
His Titans are currently 5-0 and find themselves ranked third in CIF Division 5. The Titans defeated La Canada in a key road matchup on Thursday evening and much can be credited to San Marino’s outstanding improvement on defense as the blocking of Luca Moggio and Jeffrey Li powered the Titans to victory. Ryan Lee’s outstanding defensive play contributed to the Titans’ win over La Canada and Tuesday’s Senior Night win over Monrovia.
“”He played great,” said Chou. Also “playing great” is junior Casey Chan, who earlier this season hammered 31 kills in just 35 swings to pace the Titans’ offense. San Marino is poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and Chou doesn’t care if the success is due to his squads’ offense or defense. San Marino has weapons everywhere, with middle blocker Moggio and opposite hitter Chan, who can score from every part of the court. Also impressing Chou are Ryan Wang, Jared Wang, Devon Jue, Sebastian Liong and Hunter Piccinini, who has made great strides since heading to the court from the baseball diamond.
The Titans host Mark Keppel High School on Tuesday April 2 at 5:15 pm and welcome Temple City on Thursday, April 4 at 4:00 p.m.
Chou is thrilled with the Titans’ all-around skills and doesn’t really care if offense or defense wins championships, as long as it’s San Marino hoisting the plaque at the end of the season.
