CdM surprises Laguna Beach

CORONA DEL MAR — Corona del Mar High had revenge on its mind and, Laguna Beach, the top-ranked girls volleyball team in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA, just happened to be on the Sea Kings’ court Wednesday night.

The two no longer compete against each other for the Pacific Coast League title, with the Breakers moving to the Orange Coast League, but the fierce rivalry still exists.

Less than two weeks ago, the Breakers added to the rivalry by ending the Sea Kings’ run in the Dave Mohs tournament.

But with a 1-0 lead in games, Corona del Mar, which is the No. 2-ranked team in Division II-AA, appeared to self destruct. It dropped the second game, but won the next two to polish off the Breakers, 25-20, 20-25, 25-11, 25-22.

The Sea Kings (9-2) have already surpassed last season’s win total of seven and a victory over Laguna Beach further cemented that this is not the same team as last year.

CdM senior Juliane Piggott recorded a team-high 25 kills and senior Kelly Christian had 19 of her own. Junior Ashley Pries contributed 15 digs and senior Kasey Kipp added five blocks.

“They’re the best two outside hitters in the state, the two of them together,” Corona del Mar Coach Bill Christiansen said of Piggott and Christian.

Christian said the win over Laguna Beach was important for a variety of reasons.

“It was really big to get revenge,” Christian said. “It was also big for CIF.”

In the semifinals of the Dave Mohs Tournament, Laguna Beach took advantage of a Corona del Mar team which minutes earlier had finished a tight match against Newport Harbor. But, the Sea Kings were the ones with the edge on Wednesday.

The Breakers were without 6-foot-3 middle blocker Zoe Garrett, who is playing with the U.S. women’s national team in the Azteca Cup.

The Breakers still had junior outside hitter Dana Hutchison, who finished with a team-high 18 kills.

“Dana Hutchison is their best player,” Christiansen said. “We only lost, 25-22, in the Dave Mohs five minutes after we played a grueling match with Newport Harbor when [the Breakers] had Zoe Garrett.”

With Corona del Mar opening league play next week, Piggott was happy to enter it with momentum.

“This is our biggest competition all year,” she said. “It was really important for us to win this match.”

But in the second game a win was looking less and less likely. Corona del Mar jumped out to a 7-4 lead, but hitting errors and just generally being out of position led to a 14-3 run for Laguna Beach. The Sea Kings rallied late but the lead proved insurmountable.

“We were kind of shaking; we were so excited,” Kipp said. “We were all just fired up. It was hard to play. We had so much energy. But we all came together.”

With the third game tied, 5-5, Christian took over, smashing the next six kills for the Sea Kings then setting up Piggott for two more for a 17-9 lead before going on to win 25-11.

“I just started to reach more,” Christian said. “I was ready. I was just trying to get to the ball.”

Down, 15-12, in the fourth game, Kipp, a middle blocker, ignited a rally by doing what she consistently did all night, putting away an over pass from Laguna Beach for a point.

“Getting the over passes is a huge shot,” Kipp said. “It gets me excited.”

The two teams would not be separated by more than three points the rest of the match. When freshman Madie Smith’s serve touched down on the back line for an ace it gave the Sea Kings the match and the team celebrated.

“This was an overall team effort,” Christiansen said. “We have great players from No. 1 to No. 12. I only had one substitution left in the fourth game because everyone was playing so well. Every single one of them were ready to come in and play. I’m very, very proud.”

Corona del Mar has a chance to improve on last season’s fourth-place finish in league when it kicks off its Pacific Coast League season with a home match against Beckman Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.