Girls volleyball: CdM gets drilled by Oilers

Tony Altobelli

HUNTINGTON BEACH - It’s back to the drawing board for the Corona

del Mar High girl’s volleyball team following Tuesday’s 15-12, 15-8, 15-6

nonleague loss to host Huntington Beach.

“I understand that this is the learning part of our season, but our

league play starts next week, so we better learn fast,” Coach Steve Conti

said. “Right now we’re struggling in a couple of areas and volleyball is

a game where your weaknesses are exploited.”

Senior outside hitter Sara Deming led the Sea Kings (5-3) with nine

kills, while fellow senior outside hitter Lindsay Anstandig chipped in

with seven.

But that was far from enough as the turnovers and mental mistakes

proved too much to overcome.

“Right now, we’re struggling in two major departments,” Conti said.

“We have way too many service errors and too many passing mistakes.

Better passes lead to more points and better serves help keep momentum on

your side of the net. We need a ton of work on both.”

Following Thursday’s tough four-game loss to archrival Newport Harbor,

CdM came out in Game 1 with a little more fire and jumped out to a 7-3

lead.

“I thought in the Newport match, we came out a little flat,” Conti

said. “I was happy with the way we started tonight, but we just couldn’t

keep the momentum.”

From there, Huntington Beach (3-2) went on a 9-2 run to take the lead,

12-9. Jennifer Gardika led the Oilers’ attack with 12 kills in the match,

while Serena Bountour chipped in with eight.

Strong play from Anstandig and junior setter Jacqueline Becker (24

assists) helped the Sea Kings draw even with the Oilers at 12-12.

Following an Oilers’ timeout, three bad bounces turned the tide

against the Sea Kings. Marissa Aston’s kill the was slightly altered off

the net could not be returned for a 13-12 Oilers’ lead.

Another negative deflection off the net led to another Huntington

Beach point and a miscommunication by CdM allowed another shot to drop in

to end the game.

“There were two major turning points in that first game that really

hurt us,” Conti said. “Unfortunately that first game was the turning

point. Game 1 isn’t usually a major turning point in a match, but

tonight, it was.”

Huntington Beach kept its momentum going in Game 2, jumping out to a

4-0 lead, thanks to a couple of service winners from Gardika.

CdM, ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division III-AA, got back in

the game with a 5-0 run. Strong play from Anstandig and senior middle

blocker Jessica Jennings helped the Sea Kings take an early lead.

However the Sea Kings’ serving and passing troubles were major

contributors to an Oilers’ 9-1 run, giving them an 13-6 advantage.

“Any time you win a long rally for a big sideout and you proceed to

serve the ball long or wide or in the net, it not only takes the wind out

of you, but the entire team,” Conti said.

An Oilers’ error and a Becker kill helped trim the lead to 13-8, but

Huntington Beach, ranked No. 6 in Division I-A, didn’t fold and won Game

2.

The Sea Kings looked as if Game 3 would be different as they jumped

out to a quick 6-0 lead. Jennings, Anstandig and Deming were all over the

floor with kills, blocks and solid all-around play.

But the wheels came off in a big way as the Sea Kings would not score

again. “We had our opportunities to turn it around, but the mistakes hurt

us down the stretch,” Conti said. “We started playing quiet and we can’t

play that way. We’re a team that plays with emotion and instead, we

played passive.”

Despite the fact that the entire team is upperclassmen, it’s a young

group in terms of varsity experience, according to Conti.

“As long as we’re learning from our mistakes, I don’t care how many

matches we lose this early in the season,” Conti said. “I don’t think

that some of the girls know quite yet how much work it takes to be

successful out here and with only 10 players and two timeouts per game,

that can be costly to the team.”

CdM will take on Marina at home on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before

opening Pacific Coast League play at always-tough Laguna Beach at 6:30

p.m.