Sea Kings no soft touch

Rick Devereux

A few questionable calls were all that separated the Corona del Mar

High girls volleyball team from making history in the Dave Mohs

memorial championships at Edison Monday.

In a heated Division I championship match, Edison prevailed,

25-23, 23-25, 16-14.

In the third game, the Sea Kings were leading, 6-5, when an Edison

attacker hit a line shot that was tipped at the net by a CdM blocker.

A Corona del Mar defender used quick reactions to hit the ball to a

back-row player, who bumped the ball forward. A final Corona player

hit it over the net. The Sea Kings were whistled for four hits and

the game was tied, 6-6.

The Chargers had match point at 14-12, but CdM senior middle

blocker Erica Solis stuffed an attack to pull the Sea Kings within

one. On the ensuing play, UCLA-bound and all-tournament outside

hitter Jordan Smith crushed her 10th kill to knot the score.

It looked as if Corona was going to take the lead when an Edison

attacker hit the ball long, but the line judge ruled the ball went

off a Sea King blocker. Point, and momentum, Edison.

The Chargers put the game, match and tournament away on the next

play.

“Nobody touched that ball,” Coach Bill Cristensen said.

The play was pivotal in the game and the Edison coach knew it.

“I didn’t see [the touch],” Trent Jackson said. “I wouldn’t expect

a ‘homer’ call from the officials. I asked someone in the stands and

they said they saw the tip.”

Edison won a seesaw first game in which the Sea Kings were ahead,

23-21, but attacks by Colleen Burke, the tournament Most Valuable

Player, and Kelly Hyder gave the Chargers the win.

“[Burke] is one of the fastest middle [blockers] in the county,”

Christiansen said. The way to counter her attack? “Be as quick as

her.”

Corona del Mar battled back in the second game, erasing a 15-11

deficit to forge a 20-20 tie. All-tournament setter Traci Lawson, who

totaled 19 assists, found senior hitter Britta Nielson to give the

Sea Kings a 22-21 lead. Solaris, who finished with eight blocks, put

the game away with a stuff.

“There have only been three schools that have won this tournament

three times: Newport Harbor, Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar,”

Christiansen said. “I told the girls they would go down in history as

the first to win it four times.”

The tournament was originally called the Orange County

Championships, but it was renamed after the late Dave Mohs, a

longtime Corona del Mar resident and former Edison coach who died of

cancer in the 1990s. The Edison gymnasium is also named for Mohs.

“Everybody who ever met him liked him, and for us to win this

tournament at home in his gym is something special,” Jackson said.

The win was never certain. Both teams made diving saves when it

looked like a sure point for the opposition. Long rallies were the

norm with neither team giving up on a ball.

“I was nervous the whole time,” Jackson said. “Before the match,

during the match, up until the last play, I was nervous.”

Senior back-row specialist Breanne Ogden made several digs to keep

the ball alive. In one rally in the second game, she had back-to-back

digs to ensure a CdM point. She was named the tournament’s best

defender.

“We knew how good they were coming into the match,” Christiansen

said. “Both teams had good ball control and good digs.”

Christiansen said he was happy with the way his team performed,

but would have liked a win. He did, however, admit it could have been

worse.

“It’s better than 15th,” he said.

The Sea Kings played without sophomore backup setter Kelly

Christiansen, who received 15 stitches over her right eye following a

dive in the San Clemente match. Christiansen expects her back next

week.