Sea Kings survive tough PCL test

Rick Devereux

Ranked team against ranked team; the veterans against the rookies;

both coaches competing against their former programs. Monday’s

Pacific Coast League girls volleyball match between Corona del Mar

High and Laguna Beach had multiple plot lines, but none so intriguing

as the battle for first place in the league.

The Sea Kings prevailed, 26-24, 25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 15-12, to

remain unbeaten in the PCL.

“It feels good,” CdM Coach Bill Christiansen said. “Now everyone

is chasing us.”

Corona del Mar (17-4, 5-0 in league) is ranked No. 1 in CIF

Southern Section Division III-A and the Breakers (11-6, 3-2) are No.

4 in Division IV-AA.

Laguna Beach is a young team, with two freshmen in the starting

lineup. Whereas CdM is senior-led, with returning All-CIF seniors

Breanne Ogden, Jordan Smith and Lindsey Ensign. But the Breakers did

not act their age or show respect for their elders, battling hard in

all five games.

CdM roared to a 7-3 lead in the first game, getting kills from

Ensign, Smith and senior Britta Nielsen. Laguna Beach clawed its way

back to tie the game at 15, thanks to kills from freshman outside

hitter Dana Hutchinson and an ace by senior Joy Henderson.

The points seesawed back and forth until the Breakers’ Stephanie

Darnell gave Laguna Beach a 19-17 lead on a stuff block. A kill by

CdM’s Erica Solis made it 19-18, but, following a CdM hitting error,

Darnell answered with a kill down the line of her own to make it

21-18.

Christiansen, the former coach at Laguna Beach who led the

Breakers to the CIF final and the state quarterfinals, called a

timeout when Laguna had a 23-21 lead. Smith came out of the timeout

and pounded a kill, before and a Breaker error knotted the score at

23.

After a long rally ended with a CdM double-contact violation to

give the Breakers game point, Christiansen burned another timeout.

Again, Smith came out of the timeout and gave the Sea Kings new life,

this time smacking her spike off a Laguna blocker. Smith, who

finished with 24 kills, smoked another spike down the line, prompting

Breakers Coach Lance Stewart to call a timeout, but a mishandled set

by Laguna gave CdM a 26-24 victory.

Stewart coached the CdM girls to a 34-0 record an a mythical

national championship in 1992, then guided the Sea Kings to a second

straight state title in 1993.

The second game was tightly contested from the opening serve, with

the neither team able to hold a lead for long. Finally, Smith was

able to put away consecutive kills to give CdM a 14-13 lead.

Four straight Laguna errors gave the Sea Kings an 18-13 lead. The

Breakers battled back on a kill and two aces by Darnell to make it

19-17, CdM. Laguna took a 21-19 lead on four consecutive kills by

Darnell.

After a kill by Nielsen and a mishandled ball by Laguna Beach, the

Breakers spiked the ball near the end line. The line judge ruled the

ball in and a point for the Breakers, but the referee overturned the

call to give CdM a 23-21 lead. Senior Raylee Dennis’ spike and an ace

serve from senior Shannon McMenomy gave CdM the victory.

CdM came out flat in the third game. The Sea Kings committed four

unforced errors to fall into an early 9-5 hole. Hutchinson served

four straight points for the Breakers and freshman setter Paige

Obradovich passed out consecutive assists to give Laguna a 19-7

advantage.

Sophomore setter Kelly Christian tried to mount a comeback for

CdM, serving for four straight points, but the deficit was too great

to overcome.

“I don’t think it was so much us coming out flat as it was Laguna

playing really well,” Christiansen said. “Every time Laguna Beach

plays CdM, it doesn’t matter what the records are or if one program

is having a down year. You know it’s going to be a tough match.”

Laguna Beach again came out fired up for the fourth game, but CdM

matched the Breakers’ intensity. The game stayed close, with the

largest lead being a 17-14 CdM advantage. A Sea King hitting error,

followed by a quick kill by Darnell, who led all hitters with 30

kills, swung the momentum back in favor of Laguna Beach. Which went

on to force a game five.

It looked as if Laguna might pull of the upset, taking a 3-1 lead,

but a Breaker kill was overturned because of an illegal set to switch

the score from 4-1 to 3-2. CdM took advantage of the call, plowing

ahead to a 12-8 and Smith eventually finished off the victory with

her final kill of the night.

“The team stayed together,” Christiansen said. “We’ve played

better matches before, but we’ve never shown this much heart.”