Given, a senior, had four key points in the all-important second game to spur the Falcons (3-2). With the game knotted at 12, Given had four kills to give Crescenta Valley an 18-15 lead. He added an ace for good measure to provide the Falcons with some comfort room.
He appeared to mesh at middle blocker once outside hitter Mike Cho suffered an injury last weekend at the Redondo Tournament. Crescenta Valley Coach John Nelson moved Given to middle blocker and teammate Mazen Jahchan to outside hitter.
Given relished the opportunity to handle more of the offensive responsibilities.
"It wasn't a big deal for me to step up because once you get the middle going you want to keep pushing it," Given said. "Once I get that first hit, the adrenaline starts pumping.
"You start to get into a zone and you want the guys to give you the ball."
The Falcons stayed close to San Marino (2-1) in the first two games before pulling away with 4-0 runs. They overcame an 18-14 deficit in the third game with an 11-5 run.
Nelson said the Falcons overcame most of their serving woes.
"We had six service errors in the first game, and that's brutal," said Nelson, whose team committed 23 service miscues during a season-opening home loss to Alemany on Feb. 28. "Then we started serving better.
"With Wyatt, he can do so many different things and he's got a picture-perfect arm swing. He's not the biggest middle blocker, but he's still effective."
John Cody contributed 10 kills for the Falcons, who will face visiting Village Christian at 7 p.m. Friday.
