Boys volleyball: CdM, Tars’ square off for CIF title

Barry Faulkner

CYPRESS - Bragging rights come no bigger than those at stake for

Back Bay rivals Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools in

tonight’s CIF Southern Section Division I boys volleyball final, set for

7 o’clock at Cypress College.

“These kids will be talking about this one long after (tonight),” said

Newport Coach Dan Glenn, whose Sailors defeated the Sea Kings in last

year’s four-game Division I championship match.

“Billy (Clayton, Harbor’s star senior outside hitter) is going to

Stanford with Kevin (Hansen, CdM’s All-CIF senior setter),” Glenn said.

“You don’t think the results of this match won’t be talked about every

day in practice the next four years?”

Even those who won’t share college destinations, at least share the same

community and, for many, the same Balboa Bay club affiliation.

Newport Harbor senior setter Kent Turner shared part of his high school

experience with his CdM rivals, having attended CdM as a freshman and

sophomore.

“I’ve known a lot of those guys since I was 2 years old,” Turner said.

Glenn believes the unique relationship between the schools, which,

despite no longer sharing the same league affiliation, played three

times this season -- all CdM victories -- creates a double-edged

challenge.

“Knowing a little about the opponent adds some comfort to it,” Glenn said

of tonight’s super-charged atmosphere. “But, it also adds some

competitiveness. Both teams want to win very badly.”

Hansen, playing in his fourth straight section title match (the Sea Kings

won a Division III crown in 1998), said getting the championship rematch

with Harbor is “a dream come true.”

“I wasn’t sure we’d get this second chance,” Hansen, whom CdM Coach Steve

Conti called the best setter in CIF, said.

“It’s a dream matchup,” said Newport senior middle blocker Dustin

Illingworth, who sat out his junior year. “It’s the perfect way to end

the season.”

CdM senior outside hitter Greg Stampley expressed disbelief about another

cross-town showdown, following Wednesday’s four-game semifinal triumph

over Santa Margarita.

“I never expected it to happen this way,” Stampley said. “(Conti) doesn’t

need to find a way to fire us up. We all want revenge for last year.”

The No. 3-seeded Sea Kings (21-1) have taken some satisfaction from three

victories over the Sailors (17-5) this season. CdM has won nine of the 11

games, including a four-game triumph in the regular-season finale May 5.

“But that means absolutely nothing, now,” Stampley said.

Conti also believes the three previous wins this year have done nothing

to wash away the bitter taste of Harbor’s 16-14, 12-15, 16-14, 15-3 win

in last year’s title match.

“This is a great chance for us to finish some business we didn’t quite

take care of last year,” Conti said. “These three wins have been nice,

but they don’t make up for last year.”

CdM senior Alec Hanson, who, along with Hansen, has also played in a

section title game in basketball, said the intensity at Cypress College

can be a distraction.

“Sometimes you get caught up in the crowd and the noise in that huge gym

and you forget what you’re there to do, which is win,” Hanson said.

“Sometimes, you have to calm yourself down.”

Both teams have played with poise in the postseason.

The Sea Kings, whose only loss came to Irvine March 15, less than a week

after Hansen, Hanson and fellow starter Charlie Alshuler joined the squad

from basketball, have won all but one game in four playoff matches.

The Pacific Coast League champions, who have won 19 straight best-of-five

matches, swept Capistrano Valley, Channel Islands and El Toro, before

being tested by Santa Margarita.

Newport Harbor, which has losses to Irvine, with which it shared the Sea

View League title, Santa Margarita and CdM, has survived an arduous

postseason road.

The Sailors swept Long Beach Poly, then prevailed in five-game thrillers

against San Clemente and top-seeded Marina. They swept Mira Costa in the

semifinals and, many believe, are playing their best volleyball.

“We’ve learned how to fight,” said Clayton, who has amassed 31, 43 and 27

kills the last three matches. “Our guys have a lot of desire to win. No

matter what happens, or what the deficit is, we’re going to keep working

to win.”

Illingworth agrees that Harbor is peaking and both he and Clayton believe

defense will be the key to getting over the top Saturday.

“Every time we’ve played them, we’ve done a little better and gotten a

little closer,” Clayton said. “If we make any mental mistakes, or beat

ourselves at all, we won’t have a chance. We’ll have to play our best

match to beat them.”

Said Illingworth: “We’re going to have to dig, dig, dig and just play

scrappy. The first three times we’ve played them, they outdug us. Whoever

plays the best defense will win.”

Despite the perfect record against the Tars thus far, CdM players are far

from overconfident.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve owned them,” Hansen said. “All the games have been

close. We know it’s tough to beat a team four times in one year, so we

are a little nervous.”

Hanson, though respectful of his opponent, has great faith in his

teammates.

“This team has a lot of will,” he said. “Greg, Kevin and I have been here

before and our philosophy is, we aren’t going to let a ball drop. We’re

very fundamentally sound when it comes to passing. We want to dig

everything.”

Glenn believes CdM has been the best team in the division all season. He

considers defense the Sea Kings’ biggest strength.

“One thing we have, going into this match, is, we’re used to everything

coming back over the net,” Glenn said. “Teams who haven’t played Corona

are surprised by how many balls, which are kills against other teams, are

dug by (the Sea Kings). We know there are balls Billy is going to pound,

that would hit the floor against other teams, which are going to come

back at us.

“They’re just so good at not making mistakes. And when you can keep the

ball in play, you have a better chance of winning. I told our guys after

the last CdM match that they were better than us at that point. But we’ve

had a couple weeks to get better and we have. I’m just excited to be

playing Corona again in the finals. We’ll have to play our best match to

win.”

While Clayton shoulders much of the hitting load, Turner has had success

spreading the ball to Illingworth in the middle, junior outside hitters

Blake Tippett and Brian Gaeta, and senior outside hitter Adam Tomalas.

Christian Berg-Hansen, a 6-foot-5 junior, starts at the other middle, in

place of senior Brad Craig, who injured his ankle against Marina.

Jimmy Sanders, Lloyd Wright, Greg Perrine and Erik Peterson have also

contributed along the playoff road for the Tars, who graduated five

starters from last year’s Division I champion.

“Both teams know each other real well and know what to expect,” Conti

said. “We know where their bread’s buttered and I’m sure they know where

our’s is, as well.

“I think the fourth, fifth and sixth players on each team will have a big

impact on how the match is decided. But I think it will come down to

three things: execution, who wants it the most and who can keep their

composure and not panic with the added pressure of a championship match.”

CdM, which, like Harbor, has played its entire roster most of the

campaign, counts on Stampley, Hanson, Mack and Alshuler to carry the

hitting load. Bryan Gallagher and Chris Shephardson have also been a

factor at the net, while Evan Burden, Garrett Macklin, Cedric Chun, John

Grod, and Ryan Inman have also contributed.

CdM, which has three section championships to show for its five previous

title-match appearances (1985, ’89 and ‘98), won at Harbor, 18-16, 15-7,

12-15, 15-12, on May 5.

The Sea Kings swept the Sailors, 15-13, 15-9, 15-10, in the Santa Barbara

Tournament of Champions final April 29 and also prevailed, 15-5, 13-15,

15-10, 15-9, in a nonleague match April 8 at CdM.

It’s also the sixth CIF title match for Harbor, which won section crowns

in 1979, ’87 and last spring.

A recent CIF rule change prohibiting teams from playing in playoff

divisions other than those they qualify by enrollment, which will take

effect next year, makes this the last Back Bay postseason showdown until

or unless the rule is changed.