Sea Kings sweep Santiago to advance

CORONA DEL MAR — Memories linger from 2008 for the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team.

It was only a year ago when the Sea Kings gathered momentum on their way to the championship match in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA. But then Redlands East Valley swept CdM to win its second straight CIF title. For many on this year’s CdM team the memory is painful, yet a motivating factor. The Sea Kings have used that loss to fuel their energy this year.

On Saturday night, they took one step closer to returning to the title match. They used a balanced attack to sweep visiting Santiago of Corona, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals.

“Being so close and not getting [the championship], it gave them a long-term goal,” said CdM Co-Coach Darryl Gan, who is in his second year. “We tell them to get to that long-term goal, we have to focus on the short-term goals. They’re trying to not look too far ahead.”

When the Sea Kings look to Tuesday they know they’ll be playing at home for the third straight time in the playoffs. They’ll play host to South Torrance in a semifinal match scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

South Torrance also swept, defeating St. Lucy’s, 25-23, 25-23, 25-14.

Though CdM won in three sets, Gan believed his team was challenged in each game. The Sharks (23-5) opened the first game with a 3-0 lead and they battled the Sea Kings up until the teams were tied, 16-16. But then CdM went on a 4-1 to swing the momentum in its favor. Senior setter Madie Smith helped the Sea Kings gain control and delivered accurate passes to junior Claire Ham, senior Amanda Nickel and senior Sydney Brombal to close out the win.

Ham’s work in the middle also helped CdM get into a rhythm, said Jim Downey, who shares coaching duties with Gan.

“We’ve done what we needed to do so far,” Downey said. “But we need to step it up for the next round.”

Even though the Sea Kings know they must turn it up for Tuesday night’s match, they entered Saturday with plenty of confidence. They were playing in front of their home fans and they’ve always had that long-term goal in mind.

The Sharks came in with a good looking record and at times they challenged CdM with its strong serving.

But in reality Santiago was overmatched. Sharks Coach Alren Elkin said his team was without it starting outside hitter due to academic ineligibility and her replacement sustained a broken hand injury during practice Tuesday.

There were also other injuries for the Sharks, he said.

Still, Santiago showed some fire in the second and third games.

In the second game, CdM led, 21-15, but the Sharks came back with a 5-2 run. But it was too late for their rally, as the Sea Kings closed out that game with a kill by junior Morgan Boukather, who led Corona del Mar with 10 kills. Ham followed with nine kills and Nickel had eight.

Junior libero Katelyn Baker led the Sea Kings with 12 digs and Smith had nine digs to go with her 32 assists.

CdM, the Pacific Coast League champion, called its first timeout of the match late in the third game when Santiago overcame a 22-20 deficit to tie it up. The Sharks went ahead, 23-22, to force another timeout and CdM responded with three straight points. Ham and Brombal put down kills from Smith’s sets and Santiago’s return of Ham’s serve fell wide to end the match.

If CdM defeats South Torrance it will advance to the title match, Friday or Saturday at Cypress College.

In Tuesday’s other semifinal match, No. 1-seeded Redlands East Valley will play host to Bishop Montgomery of Torrance.

Redlands East Valley won in four against South Hills of West Covina. Bishop Montgomery also won in four against Beckman, which finished second in the PCL.