Boys volleyball: CdM battles top-seeded Village Christian

Barry Faulkner

GLENDALE - Village Christian High may be the No. 1 seed, but,

Corona del Mar’s CIF Southern Section boys volleyball playoff credentials

are certainly, few would argue, first rate.

Coach Steve Conti’s No. 4-seeded Sea Kings (14-6), are aiming for

their fifth straight trip to a Southern Section title match when they

face the Crusaders tonight at 7 o’clock in a CIF Division IV semifinal at

Glendale Community College.

The Sea Kings, who have four section titles, won the Division I crown

last spring. Only Santa Ynez, which has played for a CIF championship

each of the last seven seasons, has a longer streak of title-match

appearances among section schools.

Village Christian, on the other hand, has never been to a section

final. The Crusaders, in fact, are a virtual unknown among the sport’s

perpetual powerhouse programs.

Conti, whose Pacific Coast League co-champions have swept their first

two playoff foes, said the Alpha League champions will pose a formidable

challenge.

“They’re a really balanced team,” Conti said. “They have two good

left-side players, one of their outside hitters and one of their

opposites looks like their go-to guys and they have a pretty good

setter.”

But, Conti’s proven postseason philosophy focuses more on what his

team is doing, than the opponent.

“As long as we serve tough, play defense and pass balls to sideout, we

should be OK,” Conti said.

Conti has also targeted the elimination of unforced errors as an

aspect his team could improve upon.

It would be tough to improve upon a pair of CdM playoff sweeps. The

Sea Kings dispatched Gabrielino, 15-3. 15-10, 15-10, and Bishop

Montgomery, 15-13, 15-7, 15-5, to reach this point.

Sun Valley-based Village Christian, coached by Bill Schnobrich,

handled Bolsa Grande, 15-11, 15-5, 15-4 in the second round (Both the

Crusaders and Sea Kings got first-round byes). It then got past St.

Francis, 15-7, 11-15, 15-4, 15-10, in Friday’s quarterfinals.

CdM also brings a balanced offensive attack. Senior outside hitters

Brian Gallagher and Charlie Alshuler have been complemented, at various

times, by 6-foot-7 senior middle blocker Forrest Mack, senior Garrett

Macklin and junior John Grod.

Senior Evan Burden triggers the attack at setter, while sophomore Bart

Welch provided a defensive spark against Bishop Montgomery.

Tonight’s winner will advance to Saturday’s championship match against

either No. 2-seeded Santa Ynez or Northwood, which shared the PCL crown

with CdM.

Directions to Glendale College

North on 5 (cross 110)to 2 (Glendale Freeway). North on 2 (cross 134)

to Mountain St. Left on Mountain, right on Verdugo Road. School at 1500

N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale.