CdM downs Redlands

CORONA DEL MAR — It looked like the sweep was in the bag. But Corona del Mar High was quickly reminded Thursday night that looks can be deceiving; especially in the playoffs.

The Corona del Mar girls’ volleyball team dominated its first two games against visiting Redlands, but let Game 3 slip, missing the sweep, only to regain focus and win, 25-11, 25-13, 20-25, 25-17, in its CIF Southern Section Division I-AA second-round match.

“You have to give a lot of credit to the Redlands group,” CdM Coach Darryl Gan said. “When they got beat, they didn’t give up at all. It’s nice that we did good against a team like at this point.”

The Sea Kings (20-7), who had a first-round bye, opened the match against the Terriers (16-9) with 12 straight points, led by Sydney Brombal’s serving. She registered two of her eight aces during the run. The opening series of points set the tone and CdM did not look back, winning the first game in dominating fashion, 25-11.

The second game was more of the same as the Sea Kings took a sizable 18-7 lead very quickly. The rhythm at the net was seamless and as the game progressed, if senior setter Madie Smith was able to deliver a clean set, her hitters put it away. CdM only committed one hitting error in its 25-13 second-game win.

But the Terriers would not be shut out.

Redlands stole the momentum halfway through the third game, going on a 12-5 run and took advantage of what was a less-energetic CdM squad. The Terriers put a stop to the overpowering offense with some scrappy play on the back line and stole the Game 3 win.

However, as it has done for most of the season, CdM regained its composure and focus to win the fourth game and advance to the quarterfinals. The Sea Kings, the Pacific Coast League champions, will play host to St. Joseph of Lakewood Saturday. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

“When we’re focused, we are good,” Gan said. “All year long, we have gone through our ups and down. It is good because we are learning how to recover from it, but it is bad because we keep doing it. As long as we settle down we should be good.”

A lack of focus may hinder the team as it moves into the later rounds of the playoffs, but scoring should not be an issue. Brombal led all players with 12 kills, followed by Amanda Nickel’s 11 and Claire Ham’s eight. Smith was busy throughout, delivering 48 assists and the team registered 16 total aces in its victory.