Alleman Props Up Esperanza

Although Esperanza High’s Jon Alleman played on a bad leg, he still managed to carry the Aztecs to their first boys’ Southern Section Division I volleyball championship.

Alleman had 33 kills to help fourth-seeded Esperanza defeat second-seeded Royal, 6-15, 15-5, 16-14, 15-13, in the division final Saturday at Cypress College.

Royal (20-1) dodged two match points before Esperanza (19-1) finally put it away. First Alleman spiked from the 10-foot line for a side-out at 14-13, then setter Justin Dalton fed Alleman again and he put the ball away deep in the right corner.

“Jon pulled his left hamstring in the semifinals so he hasn’t been practicing with us much lately,” Esperanza Coach Kurt Kersten said. “We just got out of him what we could.

Esperanza’s Kyle Anderson added 13 kills and four blocks and Dalton had 60 assists.

Ryan Denihan had 19 kills and five blocks, Marc Chaffee added 21 kills and setter John Baxter had 69 assists for Royal.

Esperanza defeated Royal to win the 1993 Division II title and Royal defeated Esperanza in the 1992 Division 3-A final.

In Division II, top-seeded Santa Margarita won its first boys’ section volleyball title, defeating second-seeded Santa Barbara, 15-7, 15-5, 15-8.

Junior Marcus Skacel had 19 kills and senior Tim Gerlach added 12 for Santa Margarita (19-2), which lost its only matches to Division I teams Esperanza and Loyola.

Ben Koski had 13 kills for Santa Barbara (15-7).

Second-seeded Santa Ynez won its third consecutive Division III title, rallying from a 2-1 deficit in games to defeat unseeded Corona del Mar, 11-15, 11-15, 15-11, 15-13, 15-13, in a 3-hour, 15-minute match.

Michael Wall had 39 kills and Larry Witt had 24 kills and four blocks for the Pirates (20-1). Trace Agin (19 kills, three blocks) blocked Corona del Mar’s Blair Hoppe at match point to complete the comeback.

Hoppe had 37 kills and Tim Andrews added 24 kills for Corona del Mar (14-5).