Sea Kings eliminated in five games

Tony Altobelli

TORRANCE - In a match that showcased heart pounding action as well

as head pounding noise, the Corona del Mar High girls volleyball team

lost to host Bishop Montgomery, 7-15, 15-10, 15-8, 11-15, 15-9, Tuesday

in the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA semifinals.

“I’m pleased with the way we battled in such a harsh environment,” Sea

Kings Steve Conti said. “This is a very noisy place to play in and to

play well here, you have to play with poise.”

With long rallies and strong defense, the theme for both teams’ play,

it was the Knights (21-10) who managed to put away the big plays when

necessary.

Led by Chrissie Zartman’s 30 kills, 22 digs, and laser-beam jump

serves, Bishop Montgomery took control of game five early and held on for

the win.

The 5-foot-4 UCLA-bound outside hitter jump served the Knights into

seven straight points and an 8-1 advantage in the deciding game.

“That was the turning point of the match,” Conti said. “Zartman’s

serves forced us to send passes off our net and that sent our offense out

of sync.”

Sea Kings senior Sara Deming led CdM (18-9)) with 21 kills while

Lindsay Anstandig chipped in with 20.

“Our game plan was to stop Sara because they go to her for big

points,” Knights coach Kim Willeman said. “We also wanted to serve tough

and play great defense which we were able to do tonight against a tough

opponent.”

CdM took the noisy crowd out early with a strong showing in game one.

Deming, Anstandig and Katie Duggan (11 kills) each played well as the Sea

Kings capitalized on Bishop’s mistakes.

But Bishop, the two-time Division III champions, regrouped and won

games two and three with flawless execution and a relentless defense.

“When their front-line girls weren’t bouncing balls back at us, they

were slowing them down just enough to set up their offense,” Conti said.

“Zartman was all over the place for them.”

Up front, 5-foot 10 middle blocker Noelle Quinn had 15 blocks to go

along with her 12 kills, while Allison Joyce added 15 kills and 18 digs

for the Knights.

CdM bounced back in game four, as Jacqueline Becker (52 assists, 11

digs) came up with numerous defensive plays that helped tie the match.

“They have (Zartman) and we have Jacqueline,” Conti said. “They were

both all over the place out there.”

Following Zartman’s serving surge in game five, CdM managed to cut the

lead to 8-5 before the Knights answered the challenge with three straight

points of their own.

A Deming kill and two Bishop miscues brought the Sea Kings again to

within three, but they could not get any closer.

“Bishop earned their points tonight,” Conti said. “Early in the year,

we tended to give away a lot of points, but that wasn’t the case here.”