A heightened awareness

Bryce Alderton

Even though they are only sophomores, they have been through the

rigors of the CIF playoffs and are back for more.

Corona del Mar girls volleyball coach Bill Christiansen had

nothing but praise for the six sophomores he has returning from a

team that finished 2001, 19-7, losing to Bishop Montgomery, 15-6,

10-15, 15-11, 14-16, 18-16, in the semifinals of the CIF Southern

Section Division III-A playoffs.

Those six sophomores saw much playing time during CdM’s three

playoff matches, only priming them for this season, Christiansen

said.

“This sophomore class is the most talented group I’ve seen in 23

years here,” Christiansen said “They’ve all had varsity playing

experience in huge playoff games and I’m optimistic we can get into

the CIF finals. We were as close as one point last year in the

five-game match.”

Middle blocker Lindsey Ensign started as a freshman last season

when she was only 13, and is a possible first-team All-CIF candidate,

according to Christiansen. Joining her will be Jordan Smith, who

played 50% of the varsity matches last year as a freshman as an

outside hitter, and fellow outside hitter and sophomore Britta

Nielson.

“Britta, Lindsey and Jordan have not stopped growing and all saw a

lot of playing time last year,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen listed both Ensign and Smith at 6-feet. Smith’s older

sister, Morgan, played for CdM and graduated in June and made UCLA’s

traveling team.

The Sea Kings return three seniors, including co-captains Claire

Allen (middle blocker) and Alissa Zoelle (defensive specialist),

along with Lauren Loe, who will see action at setter, outside hitter

and at opposite.

“(Allen) can play every position, kind of like a throwback to

April Ross,” Christiansen said, comparing Allen to Ross, who starred

at Newport Harbor at now plays at USC. “Alissa is one of the best

(defensive specialists) in CIF since she was a sophomore.”

Junior setters Ashley Bill (5-7) and Mackenzie Conover (6-1)

backed up Jacqueline Becker last season and “are ready to start on

the varsity level,” Christiansen said.

Junior Lauren Snell will start at opposite and occasionally at

outside hitter. Victoria Rice and Valery Westheart round out the

junior class.

Sophomores Breanne Ogden (middle blocker), Ashley Marx (outside

hitter) and Rilee Dennis provide Christiansen with more weapons to

choose from.

Even though the Sea Kings lost five seniors, Christiansen predicts

that the Sea Kings have the strength to take first in the Pacific

Coast League, where they finished second to Laguna Beach last season.

He acknowledged that the league will be competitive.

“We did lose some incredible starters in Jacqueline Becker, Morgan

Smith and good secondary players in Katie Duggan and Eleanor Mack,

but in two months all the young girls will be playing at a much

higher level,” Christiansen said. “The league will be tough, but a

good training ground for the playoffs. It might take the preleague

games for us to gel, but we’re strong enough to win our league this

year. When this team gels its going to be extremely good.”

In CdM’s season ending loss last year, Zoelle and Allen had three

service aces apiece, while Allen slammed 14 kills. Christiansen was

disappointed with the loss, but was still proud of the way his team

fought.

“It was such an incredible classic match,” Christiansen said. “All

the referees and coaches I talked to who watched it said it was the

best match of the entire CIF playoffs. We played well.”

The number of sophomores on the team is “unusual” for

Christiansen, who said he’s only brought up four freshman to play

varsity in his 23 years at CdM.

“I was coaching at Laguna Beach in 1993 when we played CdM and we

only had one sophomore, so it’s very unusual,” Christiansen said.

“It’s going to pay off this year for the team all having varsity

experience.”