CdM comes alive

HEMET — For Corona del Mar High, the trick to beating the West Valley Mustangs was killing them softly.

The Sea Kings quieted the arm of senior Jeff Carlson, whose über-hard jump serve is usually vital to their attack, and the Mustangs weren’t sure how to respond.

Friday night, CdM found its groove with floaters as it defeated West Valley, 25-15, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17, in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.

“It was kind of hard for the boys to pass the floaters,” said first-year Mustangs coach Tinei Tuaniga. “We’re a jump-serving team. When they started floating, it was hard for [the Mustangs] to adjust.”

After struggling to find an answer to CdM’s middle attack the first and much of the second game, the Mustangs woke up in Game 3, when they led the Sea Kings by as many as five.

As the Sea Kings trailed 22-20 in the third game, Mustangs junior middle Joe Burton and senior Gustiano Tuaniga (17 kills, 13 assists, three blocks) blocked Carlson’s attempt from the right. The Sea Kings recovered, and again, Burton shut out CdM senior middle Gus Ellis on the second-chance attempt.

Burton, who finished with four blocks, took the game point for the Mustangs with a spike at the middle. It was a complete reversal of the Sea Kings’ own success at the net for the first two games.

“And that’s what we couldn’t really do in the first and second sets was pass,” the Mustangs’ coach said. “Our passing was terrible.”

But, down two games, the Mustangs weren’t able to sustain the momentum necessary to hold off the Sea Kings.

“We started out rough,” Tuaniga said. “It’s hard to bounce back. Once a team gets a lead and takes off, it’s really hard to catch up.”

West Valley had several missed sets that gave CdM easy free balls in Game 1. Davis had an easy slam down the middle when senior Jose Lopez missed a set on the right side, and the Sea Kings went up, 14-8.

For CdM, winning after Game 3 was a matter of regaining control.

“We just let ourselves get away,” Davis said. “Just lack of focus. We just let up.”

Junior setter Connor Bannan finished with 37 assists, back after missing part of the playoffs because of the flu.

And though the Mustangs were able to counter Ellis (10 kills, three blocks) and middle Dylan Davis (nine kills, one block, three block assists) at the net with Burton, they still had to worry about the Sea Kings’ outside threats from Weston Nielsen, Dillon Flinn, and Carlson.

Carlson led with 14 kills, and Nielsen and Flinn added 10 each.

“I think Connor did an excellent job with diversifying the sets,” Ellis said. “He might have a little bit of sickness, but he’s not showing it to any of us.”

CdM trailed, 11-9 in Game 2 and fought back to tie at 12-12 when Nielsen spiked a ball down the seam on his third set for a crucial point.

The Sea Kings won the second game, 26-24, when Carlson’s kill skated off the fingertips of senior middle Chris Brooks.

“You could kind of see the momentum shifting,” CdM Coach Steve Conti said. “We kind of squeaked through that second game, which I think was kind of crucial.”

Now the Sea Kings set their sights on Santa Barbara, the team the defending champions defeated for the CIF title last season.

CdM has history with the Dons. The Sea Kings defeated the Dons in the CIF semifinals in 2006, in Santa Barbara, after rallying back from a 14-9 fifth game deficit.

The site of Tuesday’s semifinal will be decided by coin flip, but Ellis said it didn’t matter if the Sea Kings found themselves on the road again.

“Pretty much my favorite memory in volleyball is beating Santa Barbara in the semifinals my sophomore year…” Ellis said. “Sometimes, the more difficult it is to pull it off, and if you’re away from home, the more glory, I’d say.””

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].