Sea Kings roll in first round

Chris Yemma

Corona del Mar High girls water polo coach Aaron Chaney told his

players entering the postseason to not look ahead.

The last time his team looked ahead, he said, it lost in the

Irvine Southern California championships to Coronado -- one of San

Diego’s top teams, but also a team CdM had beaten earlier in the

season.

Still, entering the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs

Friday, it was hard for the Sea Kings not to look past Savanna, the

third-place finisher in the Orange League. But even if they actually

had mentally zoned out against the Rebels, it wasn’t noticeable, as

CdM cruised to a 13-2 home victory playing without three starters.

“Yes, I didn’t think it would be too competitive,” Chaney said.

“You saw their record (now 12-17), and they’re used to playing in

smaller pools.”

CdM’s larger pool proved to be too much of a void for the Rebels

to fill, which has been the case with numerous other Southern Section

teams this season. The top-seeded Sea Kings (21-7) have stayed top-ranked in Division II since the season began, with five of its

losses against Division I teams, as well as one to Coronado and one

to Santa Barbara.

The Sea Kings had no trouble against Savanna Friday, even as

Ashley Chandler sat out with a broken finger, Camille Hewko rested

her shoulder and Katlin Kubas took a breather.

Chandler, the fastest swimmer on the team as Chaney describes her,

broke her finger ice skating two weeks ago and is out for the

remainder of the season. Hewko and Kubas should be back for the next

game, Chaney said.

“It hurts us, because [Chandler] is a really big asset to our

counterattack, and she’d win sprints practically almost every

quarter,” Chaney said. “We don’t really have anyone right now that

can fill the position.”

The Sea Kings weren’t affected by Chandler’s absence Friday, but

most likely will be in upcoming games on their quest for a fourth

straight CIF title. If CdM makes it to the final, it would probably

face second-seeded Laguna Beach or third-seeded Villa Park, two teams

it has beaten this year.

Sophomore Cari Levine led CdM Friday with four goals, two in the

first quarter as the Sea Kings jumped out to a 6-1 first-quarter

lead. CdM led, 8-1, at halftime.

Levine tallied two more goals in the third quarter.

Katie Indvik totaled three goals, all in the first quarter to lead

the early breakaway. Indvik said she expected this type of outcome

against Savanna.

“We’ve been working really hard on our attacking in practice,”

Indvik said. “Definitely it’s going to get harder. There’s some good

teams out there, like Villa Park and Laguna Beach.”

Sophomore Haley Prickett scored two goals, while Kathryn Bilder,

Ashley Hyter, Holly Van Hiel and Sarah Hutchison each had one. CdM

Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup.

CIF Division II

First round

Corona del Mar 13,

Savanna 2

Score by Quarters

*--*

Savanna 1 0 0 1 -- 2

CdM 6 2 4 1 -- 13

*--*

Savanna -- Boydstun 2. Saves -- Davis 11.

CdM -- Levine 4, Indvik 3, Prickett 2, Hutchison 1, Hyter 1,

Bilder 1, Van Hiel 1.