PREP ROUNDUP : Second-Ranked Irvine Dominates Woodbridge in Volleyball

The Irvine boys’ volleyball team made its own rain Friday, showering Woodbridge with spike after spike to post a 15-6, 15-9, 15-11 nonleague victory at Irvine High School.

Irvine (4-0), the second-ranked team in the county, had little trouble with third-ranked Woodbridge (2-1) as the Warriors’ defense and passing broke down throughout the match.

“I thought it would be a better match,” Irvine Coach Mark Mednick said. “But Woodbridge didn’t play with much ball control and our offense was pretty effective. Everything we tried on offense worked well.”

The Irvine offense clicked with the return of outside hitter Chris Swanner, who had a team-high 16 kills.

Swanner, a 6-foot-3 senior, sat out Thursday’s match against Laguna Beach trying to recuperate from the flu. Although the Vaqueros posted a five-game victory over the Artists, Mednick was relieved to see Swanner back in action.

“Everything ran a lot smoother when he came back,” Mednick said.

Woodbridge stayed close in the first game, with the teams repeatedly siding out. With the score tied, 6-6, Swanner scored on a cross-court spike to give Irvine the lead for good, and the Vaqueros closed out the game winning nine unanswered points.

Swanner also closed out the third game, spiking off a Woodbridge block at match point to give the Vaqueros the victory.

Irvine’s balanced attack featured Brady Hamilton, who had 14 kills, and Greg Wakeham, a 6-5 junior who had 11 kills and three blocks. Setter Jason Mickratz had 45 assists for Irvine.

Krister Olsson led Woodbridge with a match-high 18 kills, and Chris Riebe added 10.

In other nonleague boys’ volleyball:

El Modena 3, Long Beach Wilson 2--Aaron Seltzer had 20 kills as the host Vanguards (4-0) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to remain undefeated.

Valencia 3, Servite 0--Jon Young had 10 kills and Doug Finnell 22 assists for the host Tigers (3-0).

In Garden Grove League boys’ volleyball:

Kennedy 3, Pacifica 2--Jim Green had 28 kills and Erik Huhta 18 in a losing effort for the host Mariners (3-3, 1-1).

La Quinta 3, Garden Grove 1--Sam Barbee had nine kills for visiting La Quinta (2-1, 2-0) in a 15-11, 15-10, 13-15, 15-6 victory.

Rancho Alamitos 3, Bolsa Grande 2--Teofil Tifrea had 14 kills and eight blocks as visiting Rancho Alamitos (2-4, 1-1) won, 15-3, 11-15, 8-15, 15-1, 15-3.

Los Amigos 3, Santiago 0--Noah Tagatauli and Harry Guldjian had eight kills each as host Los Amigos (2-1, 1-1) won, 16-14, 15-8, 15-8.

In Sunset League boys’ volleyball:

Huntington Beach 3, Marina 0--Troy Wooten had nine kills and Chris Jones 36 assists for the visiting Vikings (5-1, 2-0).