RIVERSIDE — The Hillcrest boys volleyball team had its back against the wall late in the fifth set Monday evening. Sophomore outside hitter Evan Eugene helped the Trojans get out of that predicament when he rotated back into the front row. Eugene registered 26 kills in the match — six in the dec isive set and four during the final push — as Hillcrest walked away with a 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 13-25, 15-13 home victory over Riverside Poly and grabbed sole possession of first place in the Ivy League. “I’d been getting kills on that side, so I was just waiting to get back into the front row,” Eugene said. “It felt great to bring us back.” Eugene’s first two kills of that final set helped Hillcrest (20-6 overall, 7-0 in league) race to a 4-1 advantage. But Poly (19-4, 6-1) answered back, tying the score at 5, 6, 9 and 10 and eventually taking a 12-10 lead after a pair of attacking errors by the Trojans. Hillcrest finished Monday’s match with a 5-1 run, and four of those points, including the match-winner, came via kills by Eugene. “We’ve been talking all week about being faster on offense, and he (Eugene) has adjusted well,” setter Cameron Ferguson said. “I’m very confident giving him the ball anytime during the match. He got on a roll there at the very end, and he just doesn’t miss.” About an hour earlier, Poly was the team backed into the corner, as the Bears were down two sets and trailing 15-10 in the third. Senior Weston Werner had nine of his 26 kills in the third game, five coming during the back half of the set to extend the match. Hillcrest came out strong in the fourth set and grabbed a 6-2 lead. But Poly quickly turned the tables, piecing together a 12-3 run to take control of the set. Werner had six kills in that frame, and junior setter Tanner Samosky closed it with back-to-back aces. “I think my guys did an incredible job battling their way back. As a coach, I can’t be happier,” Bears coach Manuel Savalza said. “We cleaned up our mistakes, especially with passing, and that brought us back. When we found that rhythm, we played well.” The opening frame featured some big swings of momentum early before things tightened up. There were 13 tied scores and the lead changed hands five times. Poly took a 23-22 lead following an ace by Porter McCandless and a kill by Werner. Hillcrest had an answer, however. Eugene had two kills and Marcus Guzman-Taleaua had another as the Trojans won the final three points. Hillcrest never trailed in the second set. The Trojans served up six aces during that game, including three by Ferguson. “When I coached at La Sierra, my teams had more missed serves than anyone but we usually had more aces than anyone else,” Hillcrest coach Bruce Bartholomew said. “I coach these guys to be aggressive servers and try to get teams out of their offense.” Guzman-Taleaua finished with 17 kills. He did not play when the Trojans lost a pair of tournament matches to Poly on March 22. “He’s our tallest player out there, so obviously he makes a big difference with his blocking and his offense,” Bartholomew said. Robert Perales and McCandless registered 12 and 10 kills, respectively for Poly. Samosky had three aces to lead the Bears. Hudson Nguyen had eight kills for Hillcrest, and Ferguson finished with a match-high four aces. The teams square off again in the regular-season finale April 22 at Poly. Related Articles All-Inland Girls Soccer: Santiago’s Alexis ‘Lexi’ Coughlin is the IE Varsity Player of the Year IE Varsity’s high school softball rankings, April 14 IE Varsity high school baseball rankings, April 14 Temecula Valley’s Jack Stadlman continues strong season with win at Arcadia Invitational All-Inland Boys Soccer: Arlington’s Hugo Gomez is the IE Varsity Player of the Year ...read more read less