PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : No. 1 Capistrano Valley Tops Laguna Beach

It came down to a four-point race between Capistrano Valley and Laguna Beach for the top ranking in boys’ high school volleyball Tuesday night.

And top-ranked Capistrano Valley got there first, but just barely.

The Cougars capitalized on two unforced Laguna Beach errors to defeat the third-ranked Artists, 15-9, 15-7, 12-15, 1-15, 15-11, in a nonleague match at Capistrano Valley.

Capistrano Valley rallied from an two-point deficit to tie it, 11-11, before Laguna Beach let the match slip away.

The Cougars took a 12-11 advantage when Laguna Beach was whistled for a rotation error before the ball was served.

A block by Capistrano Valley’s Mike Dalton made it 13-11. The Cougars were awarded another point before the next play, when officials called Laguna Beach Coach Michael Soylular for an illegal substitution.

Then a kill by Steve Thornton on match point gave the Cougars (5-0) the victory.

Laguna Beach (2-1) played without starting setter David Berney, one of the county’s top players, who was suspended from school for a week because of disciplinary problems.

Berney’s replacement, sophomore Kurt Nelson, had an outstanding match and finished with 63 assists.

The Artists trailed, 12-11, in the third game and were on the verge of getting swept. But sophomore outside hitter Dan Styles (23 kills) and junior outside hitter Beau Bianchi (15 kills) led the Artists’ comeback.

“We let Laguna Beach get emotional after we had the two-game lead,” Capistrano Valley Coach Ken Goldstone said.

“And with our players finding out that (Berney) wasn’t playing, it was hard to keep them into the match.”

Middle blocker Eric Seiffert and outside hitter Evan Alexander led Capistrano Valley with 19 kills apiece. Aaron Garcia added 15 kills and Thornton had 14.

The victory capped a brutal week for Capistrano Valley, which also beat second-ranked Esperanza in a nonleague match last Tuesday and in the championship match of the Dos Pueblos tournament Saturday.

“I told the kids that we would take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off this week,” Goldstone said. “They’ve earned the rest.”

In other nonleague volleyball:

Calvary Chapel 3, Los Alamitos 1--Philip Schildts had 22 kills for visiting Calvary Chapel (3-0), which won 15-12, 15-7, 9-15, 15-11.

Esperanza 3, L.A. Brentwood 0--Paul Nihipali had 18 kills as second-ranked Esperanza (4-1) won 15-2, 15-9, 15-13.

Foothill 3, Los Altos 1--Rich Lambourne had 10 kills for the 10th-ranked Knights (5-0), who won 15-6, 15-8, 11-15, 15-2.