‘New’ Sea Kings win

CORONA DEL MAR — Summer league, followed by the fall league, then the regular season in spring began, and by then it was time for new volleyball jerseys at Corona del Mar High.

The appeal of the two standard jerseys wore off so much that the Sea Kings wanted to alter them themselves.

“These guys asked me if they could tear the sleeves off their shirts,” Corona del Mar Coach Steve Conti said.

The top-ranked Sea Kings didn’t have to Friday.

Perfect timing. About an hour before CdM played host to Back Bay rival Newport Harbor, Conti surprised his team, handing out new, fashionable blue jerseys, with no sleeves of course.

Finally the Sea Kings fully showcased their arms.

They put them to good use, too. CdM swept its final regular-season match, 25-15, 25-22, 25-22, in front of a packed home gym.

The way CdM (28-2) played the nonleague match it might consider wearing the uniforms in its run at a third CIF Southern Section championship appearance.

The postseason starts next week for CdM in Division II and Newport Harbor in Division I, with the pairings released on Monday.

But the Sea Kings can even don the jerseys this weekend because for the second year they own the bragging rights over the Sailors (19-12).

“We’re not a very emotional team, and these guys almost literally jumped out of their chair and touched the ceiling,” said Conti, referring to when he busted out the new jerseys in a pre-game meeting. “I ordered them about two weeks ago just to save for this match.

“We talked a little bit about the game plan and what we wanted to do.”

The strategy, an easy one. Avoid Newport Harbor’s right side, with 6-foot-8 junior Kyle Caldwell and 6-4 junior Tucker Peleuses, as much as possible.

Oh, and hope starting hitters Blaine Nielsen (right foot) and Jeff Carlson (right shoulder) are healthy enough to compete.

With the new uniforms, nothing was going to keep Nielsen and Carlson off the court after missing two weeks and three days, respectively.

“[Conti] noticed how we all like tank tops,” said Nielsen, who finished with nine kills and two blocks.

“That pumped us up,” said Carlson, adding six kills, eight digs and one block.

As if the Sea Kings needed another boost heading into the postseason and against a program coming into Friday’s action on a six-match winning streak.

But last year’s CIF runner-up received another on the third play of the first game, when UCLA-bound senior Weston Dunlap rolled his left ankle.

The 6-7 middle blocker jumped to block a shot near the net. When he landed, CdM senior setter Phil Bannan’s foot was in the way.

Bannan finished with 35 assists, but there was little assist he could give to Dunlap, who landed on Bannan’s foot and fell to the floor, holding his ankle in pain. Dunlap missed big stretches throughout the match, hurting Newport Harbor’s chances of picking up its second consecutive big win in as many days.

“It kind of took me out of my game. I couldn’t move as fast as usual,” said Dunlap, who finished with only one block to go with 10 kills. “We came out with a lot of confidence, but we really didn’t know how to match up with CdM very well.

“It sucks. Senior year, no other chances [against CdM].”

Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn appeared just as peeved with the result. The day before, his Sailors swept Los Alamitos, ranked seventh in Division I, to share second place in the Sunset League, and clinch the league’s No. 2 playoff berth.

Asked if Dunlap’s injury troubled the Sailors, he said, no. How about playing two quality opponents on back-to-back nights? No.

“It’s never hard to get up for Corona [del Mar],” said Glenn, whose team will try to avoid a first-round playoff exit for the second straight year. “I was a little disappointed, especially in that third game and how many unforced errors we made. We just can’t do that at crunch time and beat yourself against a good team.

“They served it short, and we had trouble passing the short serve, and they outplayed us. Coach Conti did a nice job over there.”

The Sea Kings thought so, too. They dug more than their new jerseys.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].