Eagles power past Bulldogs

Bryce Alderton

The distance between Estancia and Hemet high schools is roughly 85

miles.

The gap, however, between the skill levels of the schools’ boys

volleyball teams was apparent after their CIF Southern Section

Division III quarterfinal match at Estancia Friday night.

The top-seeded Eagles relentlessly attacked, using exacting jump

serves to surge to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-16 victory over Hemet, which

quickly realized it was in another realm.

“I told [the Bulldogs] that they were great in the Inland Empire,

but this is Orange County volleyball,” Hemet Coach Dan Quam said

after the match. “We got spanked by [the Eagles] in every direction.”

Estancia faces third-seeded Camarillo, which defeated Downey in

four games Thursday, in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday at an

alternate site.

The Eagles (26-6), swept their third straight home match to begin

the playoffs, relying almost exclusively on the jump serve to help

tally 13 aces.

“It’s almost scary, but we keep getting better,” Estancia Coach

Tracey Ingraham said. “[Hemet] is the best competition we’ve had and

we were pumped. We knew it would be a challenge, but we rose to it.”

Whether it be at the net or behind the service line, the Eagles

spent most of their time on a vertical plane.

“We worked on the jump serve all day in practice [Thursday], but

guys were watching it thinking, ‘I’m so nervous,’ ” Quam said. “[The

Eagles] hit hard every time and knew when to pass. They hit over the

top of our block, which has hardly been done on us all year. [Senior

outside hitter Kris Harwell] is a tremendous hitter.”

Senior outside hitters Josh Kornegay and Kris Hartwell led the

Eagles with 12 and 10 kills, respectively, and each finished with

three service aces.

“We consistently work on the jump serve and, now, even more so in

the playoffs,” Estancia Coach Tracey Ingraham said. “We have six jump

servers and can get a huge string of points that way.”

The Eagles strung together seven straight points with senior

middle blocker Scott Sankey serving -- including two aces -- to forge

a 16-9 lead in game two after trailing, 7-2, early on.

The early deficit hardly ruffled the Eagles’ feathers.

“We’ve worked hard on our attitude, not getting down on ourselves

when we make a mistake,” Hartwell said. “If this was last year and we

were down, we would have lost that game.”

The Eagles then took a 10-6 lead in the third game and Hemet got

to within four points only once the rest of the way.

Sankey finished with four kills while senior Brad Larsen tallied

seven kills, two aces and a team-leading 16 digs.

Holmes and Kornegay each dug seven balls, contributing to the

Eagles’ 42 for the match, much to Ingraham’s delight.

“We played until the ball was on the ground,” Ingraham said. “We

dove for balls and won long rallies. [Friday night], everyone was

equally on. All six people on the court played their hearts out.”

Sophomore Dallas Kopp had three kills while Scott Markley tallied

two ace serves.

When asked if Estancia was the best team Hemet (17-2) faced all

season, Quam answered with, “In five years.”