Sea Kings Breakers Part IV

It was only a week ago when the girls from Corona del Mar High sunk their heads and wept after being swept by Laguna Beach in the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA volleyball title match.

But those tears have since dried up and their heads are straight as they look forward to meeting up with Laguna Beach again, this time in the CIF State Division III Championships. The Breakers host the Southern California regional semifinal which starts at 7 p.m.

This is the fourth time this season the former Pacific Coast League rivals have met. They split during the regular season and then Laguna Beach swept to win the CIF section title.

“They’re not afraid of Laguna,” CdM Coach Bill Christiansen said of his girls. “They feel they can play with them. They respect them and they know they are good. I think they want to show they are definitely better than how they played in the [section] final.”

Christiansen is hoping the Sea Kings (23-8) follow a trend they’ve been showing this season. They’ve recovered from losses to deliver two or more spectacular matches, Christiansen said.

“We lost to Dana Hills early in the season and then went on a winning streak,” Christiansen said. “We played real well in the Dave Mohs Tournament, but then lost to Laguna Beach and then after that reeled off some more wins. We also lost to Newport Harbor (in the final match of the regular season) and then bounced back with some great matches in the playoffs.”

Christiansen also said the Sea Kings played probably their worst match of the season last week at Laguna Beach. But the Breakers (27-5) had a lot to do with that as well. They also had 6-foot-3 middle blocker Zoe Garrett. She did not play against CdM when the Sea Kings won in four on Sept. 27, when Garrett was with the U.S. women’s national team.

The Breakers, coached by former CdM head man Lance Stewart, were on top of their game last week against the Sea Kings. They seemingly received an emotional lift after beating St. Lucy’s of Glendora in five games in a CIF Division II-AA semifinal.

However, Christiansen said the Sea Kings showed character by coming off the Laguna Beach loss with an all-around solid performance in a sweep at Redwood in Visalia on Tuesday. CdM senior Juliane Piggott, who had 15 kills and 11 digs against Redwood, leads the Sea Kings. Kelly Christian, Kasey Kipp and Jamie Lawson also pace Corona del Mar.

Laguna Beach is coming off a sweep over El Diamante of Visalia on Tuesday. Christiansen has been impressed with the Breakers’ sophomore setter Alexandra Palmer.

The winner of tonight’s match will take on the winner of the Santa Margarita-at-Cathedral Catholic. Santa Margarita is the top seed, but is playing at Cathedral Catholic in San Diego because the Dons have the higher host priority.