Hillsdale boys' volleyball team poised to contend for the Peninsula Athletic League's Bay Division title after sweeping past Burlingame in three straight sets

Wednesday, the Knights hosted a Burlingame squad that was in the race for the Bay Division title last season. It was a barometer of sorts for the Knights and after a 25-20, 25-14, 25-22, it appears the Knights are on the rise.

“These guys are playing really well,” said longtime Hillsdale head coach Dwight Crump. “Mentally, they’re ready to play. They’ve gone into every game looking to play well.”

With the win, Hillsdale (2-1 PAL Bay, 9-3 overall) is one victory away from matching their Bay Division win total of three from last season and the Knights did so with a varied attack, led by senior setter Arian Zolotukhin, who ran the offense to near perfection and finished with 34 assists.

Crump said he has two guys he can run his offense through, “but [Zolotukhin] is my primary setter.”

And when you have hitters like the Knights, Zolotukhin’s job become that much easier. Austin Chen, a junior outside hitter, led the way with 10 kills, while senior Chris Feinberg and junior Nils Bennebroek added nine kills each.

The 6-6 Bennebroek is going to be a problem for a lot of teams. He was nearly unstoppable on middle attacks and working quick sets with Zolotukhin was almost unfair.

“[Bennebroek is] going to play in college,” Crump said.

While the Hillsdale attack was tough to slow down, Burlingame (0-2, 8-7) struggled with the Knights’ block, which has height across the front line. While the block didn’t generate a lot of points directly, indirectly they affected the Panthers’ attack.

“If you put up a brick wall (the block with two bigs), it distracts the hitter,” Crump said. “Hitters have to change how they’re going to hit the ball.”

The two teams stayed pretty even through the first half of Game 1. But with the game tied at 6-all, Hillsdale took control of the set by winning seven of the next eight points. Bennebroek got the run started with a kill and a service ace. A back row kill from Chen, followed by a putaway by sophomore Brady Bittle gave the Knights a 10-7 lead and then finished on four straight Burlingame errors as Hillsdale opened up a 14-7 advantage.

But the Panthers got back into the game, winning five of the next six points. When Fabian Falconett dinked a winner over the net, Burlingame was down just 15-12.

Falconett finished with 11 kills.

But the Knights responded with a 7-2 run of their own, started by back-to-back aces from freshman libero Ryder Alvarez and culminated with back-to-back kills from Chen as Hillsdale led 23-17.

The Knights wobbled a bit, with Burlingame closing to 24-20 before Chen’s fifth kill of the set gave Hillsdale the set victory.

But the Knights were humming now as they came out and dominated set No. 2. After an Owen Carroll kill tied the match at 1-all, Carroll had a match-high 12 kills, the Knights won eight of the next 10 points. An ace from senior Jaden Young capped the run with Hillsdale holding a 9-4 lead.

A Burlingame hitting error later in the set put the Knights up 20-8 before the Panthers found some life, winning six of the next nine points, but kills from Chen and a quick kill from Zolotukhin gave Hillsdale the 25-14 win.

But Burlingame did not go down without a fight. The Panthers stayed close in Game 3 and when Carroll put away a kill off a dig, Burlingame led 11-10 — the Panthers’ first lead of the match.

A Hillsdale net violation gave Burlingame a two-point lead, but there was plenty of volleyball left to play. The Knights won the next two points to tie it at 12-all. The Panthers retook the lead on another Carroll kill, but that was followed by three straight Burlingame erros and the Knights took the lead for good, 15-13, on their way to closing out the Panthers, 25-22, in the third set.

“Every year you have to adjust to different players,” Crump said. “But this is probably one of the best combination of players (I’ve coached).”