Boys volleyball: Sea Kings: Road Warriors?

Steve Virgen

CORONA DEL MAR - Gabrielino High brought up to 40 of its students

to root for the boys volleyball team at Corona del Mar Tuesday. In they

came with painted faces, blue-dyed hair and loud cheers. For the Sea

Kings, that was a good thing.

CdM (13-6), which won the CIF Southern Section Division I title last

year, began this this season’s Division V playoffs with some welcome

motivation and claimed a 15-3, 15-10, 15-10 first-round victory.

CdM will play Bishop Montgomery in the quarterfinals Friday night at

the Sea Kings’ gym.

“It was almost like it was an away match,” Sea Kings Coach Steve Conti

said of the Eagles’ spirit. “They could be down 10-3 and their fans would

still cheer for them as if they had won the Super Bowl. Even though we

played at home, it was as if we had an away atmosphere.”

CdM used the noise to its advantage as the Sea Kings grabbed Game 1,

using just five different servers. Protecting a 7-3 lead, Corona made its

move with an Evan Burden-Charlie Alshuler combination. Burden, the senior

setter who finished with 25 assists, fed his fellow senior for three

straight kills, prompting a Gabrielino timeout. Alshuler led CdM with 13

kills.

The Eagles (10-5) came back to commit an error, but then earned a

sideout on a Calvin Tran kill. And their fans began to yell wildly. CdM

answered right back as Burden set up senior Forrest Mack for a kill for a

sideout. Sea King sophomore Bart Welch then served for two straight aces

and Gabrielino committed another error to end the game.

“That was kind of a little test,” Burden said of the on-the-road-type

atmosphere. “I think it’s good for us. It’s going to make us tougher down

the road.”

Gabrielino, the Rio Hondo League runner-up in, fed off its crowd in

Game 3. Down, 9-2, the Eagles charged back with a 7-1 run, which featured

some electrifying rallies in rhythm with the Gabrielino fans, who came in

their own chartered bus. The Pacific Coast League co-champions, however,

quickly quieted the Eagles’ crowd with a 6-1 run, highlighted by

sophomore Miles Yourman’s dig, which led to a Burden assist and a Pat

Flynn kill for game point. The match ended when CdM senior Brian

Gallagher, who finished with 11 kills, delivered a rare assist to junior

Ryan Inman.

“We served real tough,” Conti said. “We’re not a real huge team and we

need to take care of those kinds of things.”

In Game 2, the Sea Kings broke away from an 8-8 tie to win, 15-10, as

Alshuler and junior John Grod had service aces.