Bruised Eagles drop semifinal

Chris Yemma

After two straight seasons of having Orange Lutheran High’s

postseason number, things came full circle for the Estancia boys

volleyball team.

And the gaping gap caused by the absence of 6-foot-5 junior middle

blocker Dallas Kopp was finally taken advantage of in this season’s

CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.

The visiting top-seeded Lancers used 6-7 senior Chris Frey and 6-5

senior Travis Pinick to form a height mismatch and powered their way

to a 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 semifinal victory over the Eagles Wednesday

at Newport Harbor High.

“I don’t think they matched up very well with us,” Orange Lutheran

Coach Mark Laulhere said. “It limited what they could do

offensively.”

Kopp, who offensively lead the team throughout the season,

suffered a broken finger prior to the playoffs in a match against

crosstown rival Costa Mesa. But after first- and second-round sweeps,

followed by a four-game quarterfinal victory, the fourth-seeded

Eagles (22-10) weren’t truly affected until Wednesday.

The Lancers (17-4), who lost in the championship match last season

and the second round the year before -- both times to Estancia --

received a team-high 12 kills from Pinick coming off the bench, and

five kills from Frey to overpower the Eagles.

“It’s affected us every game, but luckily people have been rising

to the occasion,” Estancia Coach Tracey Ingraham said. “But I’ve got

a little bit less experience on the court without [Kopp] there.”

Junior outside hitter Shaun Markley had a match-high 14 kills and

four digs while senior setter Trevor Holmes, playing in his last high

school match, tallied 17 assists, five kills, two service aces and

two solo blocks to pace the Eagles.

But the absence in the middle left behind by Kopp, coupled with

junior Ryan Watson playing for the first time in two weeks due to an

ear infection, left the bruised Eagles without many options.

“We’ve overcome so many obstacles, just in CIF alone,” Ingraham

said. “They’ve been able to play tough volleyball to get to the

semifinals.”

In the middle of a pivotal Game 2, after Estancia pulled within,

17-16, powered by a Holmes kill and a Watson ace, the Lancers called

a timeout to try to cool the surging Eagles. It worked, as Orange

Lutheran claimed four straight points to push ahead, 21-16, and

eventually win the game. And a late charge in Game 3 sealed the

Lancers’ trip to the finals, something that’s been a top priority for

Laulhere since being ranked No. 1 in the division earlier in the

year.

Holmes and the rest of the Eagles’ squad gathered outside

immediately after the loss and appeared befuddled.

“I thought we played really well,” Holmes said. “Orange

[Lutheran], we knew they were going to come in tough. We were

prepared for them -- we watched tape on them, we had everything down,

but they were just too strong.”

Orange Lutheran, the Empire League champion which had a

first-round bye, only trailed in the early stages of the first two

games and for the first half of Game 3.

Estancia, the Golden West League champ, came out strong in the

final game and gained leads of four points twice throughout, but a

late rally fueled by Pinick, Frey and senior Cory Hindemat -- who

finished with seven kills -- was too much for the Eagles to overcome.

Losing just two seniors and gaining seven, though, Estancia will

have even more experience and talent for next season.

“[Orange Lutheran] had all seniors this year and we were a younger

group,” said Markley, who helped step up with the loss of Kopp. “We

have a lot of guys returning, so it should be a good year.”