Boys volleyball: CdM sweeps Knights

Barry Faulkner

CORONA DEL MAR - Though a pair of nasty sprains has left a knot he

says is the size of a grapefruit on his left ankle, Corona del Mar High

senior Forrest Mack provided, well, citrus punch for the Sea Kings’ boys

volleyball team Friday night.

With the 6-foot-7 Mack dominating both offensively and defensively in

the middle, the No. 4-seeded hosts dispatched Bishop Montgomery, 15-13,

15-7, 15-5, in the CIF Southern Section Division IV quarterfinals.

The victory propelled Coach Steve Conti’s reigning CIF Division I

champions (14-6) into a Division IV semifinal Wednesday at top-seeded

Village Christian. A win Wednesday would put CdM in the CIF title match

for the fifth straight spring.

Friday’s match also served notice that future CdM foes must provide an

answer to the imposing presence Mack casts at the net.

“I saw in the videotape (of the first-round match) that their middle

blocker wasn’t hitting hard or jumping very high,” Mack said. “So, I

figured this could be my match and it kind of was. (Setter Evan Burden)

gave me an opportunity to hit some balls and our passing as a team was

pretty good tonight.”

Mack turned his hitting opportunities into seven kills, but he had an

even bigger impact on Bishop Montgomery hitters.

“Sometimes middle blockers forget about the blocking part and just

want to hit,” Conti said. “But Forrest was moving well laterally tonight

and leading the way in what I thought was one of our better blocking

matches of the season.”

Mack collected seven stuff blocks, all for points, including a trio of

back-to-back roof jobs to help CdM pull away in every game.

It was hardly a one-man show for the Sea Kings, however, as seniors

Charlie Alshuler and Brian Gallagher added 12 and nine kills,

respectively, to help Burden amass 27 assists.

Gallagher’s serving and passing also stood out, as did the defensive

work of sophomore Bart Welch.

Bishop Montgomery (23-10), champion of the Del Rey League, made things

interesting in the first game, seizing a 5-2 lead.

CdM, however, scored the next 10 points. The Knights didn’t go

quietly, closing to within 12-9, then 14-13, before a roll shot by John

Grod closed out the 25-minute game.

The Knights took a 4-0 lead in Game 2, before CdM established control.

The Sea Kings trailed only once, 1-0, in the final game, before ending

the 76-minute match.

“We got off to a little rocky start, but I think some of that was do

to trying too hard,” Conti said. “Sometimes when the adrenaline is going,

it can work against concentration and focus, which leads to unforced

errors.”

Conti said unforced errors, his team’s nemesis all season, are a

luxury CdM can’t afford against Sun Valley-based Village Christian.