Volleyball Notebook: Corona del Mar Makes Final Push Before Playoffs

Corona del Mar certainly could claim to being the No. 1 team in Orange County—if it weren’t for Santa Margarita and Newport Harbor. Of course, that would be like saying it’s a hamburger when there’s no beef.

The Sea Kings are seemingly the county’s third wheel to the Eagles and Sailors. They lost Friday for the second time this season to Newport Harbor in the second round of the Karch Kiraly Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions at Santa Barbara High. However, the Sea Kings did finish an impressive fifth out of 16 teams after victories over Valencia and Thousand Oaks.

Corona del Mar has also lost its only match of the season against Santa Margarita, which, for the second time this year, defeated Newport Harbor in a tournament title match (also in O.C. Championships). The Eagles' 25-18, 25-19, 25-23 victory over the Sailors, who had upset top-ranked Mira Costa in the semifinals, helped boost second-ranked Santa Margarita past the Mustangs to the top of the latest CIF Southern Section Division 1 coaches' rankings.

The Sea Kings have quietly won 19 of 22 matches, surrendering only two games in the 19 victories over opponents that includes Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbara, Long Beach Poly and Esperanza, who are ranked Nos. 8-11 in Division 1, respectively. Corona del Mar has been ranked No. 1 in Division 2 since the third week of March.  

“We’re definitely coming around and becoming a better blocking and defensive team against some of the elite teams,” Corona del Mar coach Steve Conti said. “When we lost to Newport Harbor, we had zero blocks and not much of a game plan. Their guys destroyed us. Our teams probably hit a lot differently, and we have a more balanced attacked. But we won our last two [matches in Santa Barbara] and our guys blocked much better.”

The hallmark of Corona del Mar volleyball has always been its passing game, and this year’s team passes the test. The Sea Kings are a complete team; they have 11 returning players and nine to 10 play in a regular rotation. The kills are evenly spread between Evan Dean, Spencer Haly and Parker Brow.

Haly has been a pleasant surprise for the Sea Kings. He was a starter his sophomore year, but a knee injury derailed him last season. He leads a strong blocking unit that has helped a resurgent offense attack its opponent from every area on the court.

“He’s a tough kid,” Conti said. “He’s looking to step up from last year. We’re passing well and blocking well, and that opens the game up for the hitters."

Unlike the other elite teams, Corona del Mar doesn’t have those one or two go-to players who step up to lead. That could be a good thing, however, because opponents can’t focus on one player. But it could be a bad thing, too, because without a go-to guy, who’s going to take the last shot with the match on the line?

“Santa Margarita is very, very balanced. You look at Newport Harbor and they both have stud outside hitters,” Conti said. “You need that to be successful at this level.”

Conti said that since Corona del Mar and the Pacific Coast League teams were moved into Division 2 this year, he has to schedule nonleague games against top opponents to keep his team competitive and ready to go when it becomes playoff time.

Even though many believe only Laguna Beach, which has lost twice to Corona del Mar this season, is capable of giving the Sea Kings a run for the Division 2 title, Conti said the challenge is to get the team peaking by the playoffs no matter who’s the opposition.

Corona del Mar has never backed down from taking tougher competition, and the next couple of weeks are no exception. The Sea Kings begin with a match against recent nemesis Loyola, which eliminated them in the Divison 1 semifinals last year, on Thursday at Loyola. The Cubs are ranked No. 3 in Division 1.

The Sea Kings then play three league game in four days, beginning with a home match against second-place Irvine on Tuesday, April 26. They end the regular season with a home game on May 6 against Back Bay rival Newport Harbor. 

“If it helps us get better,” Conti said, “we’ll play anybody.”

Santa Margarita Primed for Playoffs

They competed in six matches over four days against three of the top eight teams in the best division of volleyball in the Southern Section. They played 19 games and won 18. Their setter accounted for 227 assists, seven aces, nine blocks and 30 digs for the week. They took a commanding lead in arguably the toughest league in the county, and they added another prestigious tournament title to their expanding portfolio.

Not a bad week, Eagles.

In the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, Santa Margarita (24-2) swept San Marcos, Thousand Oaks and Bellarmine Prep to reach the finals against Newport Harbor. The Sailors knew what to expect after having lost twice to the Eagles in March, including in the finals of the Orange County Championships. But the Eagles controlled the middle and received great offensive performances from Ryan Baine (14 kills), Spencer Buckley (13) and Mitch Vallis (190), along with 41 assists from tourney MVP and all-everything setter Taylor Hammond, to slip past Newport Harbor in the closest meeting yet.

“We played good volleyball, but with the makeup of this team, they expect to play well every game,” Eagles coach Bryan Cottriel said. “Our players did a good job of following the game plan. We established the middle and controlled the outside. It is tough for any team to go on runs against us because we play such good defense.”

While having two local teams in the final looks good for Orange County volleyball, Cottriel admitted that he expected to see Mira Costa in the title game. But the Mustangs, who defeated preseason No. 1 Santa Margarita, 25-22, 25-22, at the Best of the West Invitational in San Diego, were missing two injured starters, Chris Orenic and Jake Miller, and fell to Newport Harbor in five grueling games.

“We definitely wanted to play them,” Cottriel said of Mira Costa. “Our kids wanted another chance at them. We felt they were going to be there, but they had some injuries. The only way we’ll see them now is if we meet in the [Division 1] finals.”

The Eagles have four matches remaining this season, all in the Trinity League, including a rematch at fifth-ranked Mater Dei on May 5 (6:15 p.m.). The Monarchs were humbled last week in a three-game sweep by the Eagles in a match that took less than one hour to play.

“Our goal in the short term is to win the Trinity League for the fourth straight time. That would be the first time in school history, so that’s a big deal,” Cottriel said. “We know Mater Dei is not going to settle for a game like the last one. They are going to be tough at their place. I expect a lot better showing than last week.”

All Greek to Sailors

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was doomed to push a boulder uphill, only to have it roll back down. That’s how Newport Harbor must be feeling these days after again reaching the summit of a volleyball tournament, only to be knocked to the ground again by the same foe.

In the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, the Sailors met Santa Margarita for the third time this season and lost for the third time, 25-23, in the third. The scores have become closer each time, but even second-best wasn’t good enough for the Sailors or their coach, Dan Glenn, who seemed a little discouraged by the loss.

“We can’t figure out yet how to beat Santa Margarita,” Glenn said.

While the Sailors failed on their third-time-is-the-charm attempt, they did exorcise another demon. Less than a month ago Newport Harbor traveled to Mira Costa and lost, 3-0, perhaps their worst defeat of the season. In fact, the JV and frosh/soph teams also lost. In Glenn’s words, they “got waxed” by the Mustangs.

But in the semifinals of the Santa Barbara Tournament, the Sailors dug deep and won a thrilling five-game match over the top-seeded Mustangs, 25-19, 18-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-11. Cody Caldwell, who led the Sailors with 33 kills, six digs and three blocks in the semifinals, said the victory was maybe more important than playing for the tournament title.

“We definitely wanted to play them,” Caldwell said of Mira Costa, which played without two injured starters. “We got fatigued at the end but we managed to pull it out. That was a big win for us. We didn’t want to lose twice to them.”

Rusty Sary was quick to agree. After getting 19 kills and eight digs in the semifinal match, he said, “the opportunity to play and beat Mira Costa” was definitely the highlight of the weekend.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t play that way against Santa Margarita,” he added.

There’s one more hill for the Sailors to climb. In begins in three weeks with the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. Maybe they’ll get one more chance to reach the top of the hill this year. Maybe against Santa Margarita!

Wouldn’t that be mythical?

Seeing Double

When was the last time you heard of a coach writing the same number twice on the lineup card he gives the referee before a match? That happened at the start of the Sunset League match between Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos on Wednesday, when Glenn wrote “15” twice on the card and the Sailors were penalized.

Mike Whitcomb, Los Alamitos coach, said it’s not something he would have expected from the dean of county volleyball coaches, but he chalked it up to a long weekend in Santa Barbara.

“You might expect the players not to be on their game, but the coach?” Whitcomb jokingly asked. 

Newport Harbor's players were certainly on theirs, winning going away, 25-21, 25-10, 21-16.

Playoff Groupings by League and Schedule

Division 1 – South Coast, Sunset, Trinity

Division 2 – Orange Coast, Pacific Coast, Sea View

Division 4 – Academy, Garden Grove

Division 5 – Express, San Joaquin

Sunday, May 8 – Playoff pairings posted on cifss.org beginning at 9 a.m.

Monday, May 9 – Southern Section playoffs, wild-card round

Tuesday, May 10 – Southern Section playoffs, first round

Thursday, May 12 – Southern Section playoffs, second round

Saturday, May 14 – Southern Section playoffs, quarterfinals

Tuesday, May 17 – Southern Section playoffs, semifinals

Saturday, May 21 – Southern Section finals at Cypress College. Gym 1 – Division 5 at 1:30 p.m. and Division 4 at 4 p.m. Gym 2 – Division 2 at 4:30 p.m. and Division 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Mike Casey's "Volleyball Notebook" appears weekly on all Orange County Patch sites.