Sea Kings peaking

For a photo gallery of the match, click here.

CORONA DEL MAR — Sydney Brombal’s serve hit the top of the net, trickling over the twine and onto the other side for an ace.

“Sydney’s been practicing that serve all summer long,” the announcer said, drawing a smile from Brombal.

But it was a lucky break that the Corona del Mar High sophomore outside hitter and her teammates didn’t need. They were just two points away from sweeping St. Lucy’s in a quarterfinal of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs Saturday at CdM.

A kill by senior outside hitter Kara Chatham and another ace from senior defensive specialist Jamie Lawson did the trick, as the Sea Kings advanced to the semifinals with the 25-18, 25-9, 25-17 win.

The No. 3-seeded Sea Kings (16-8) will play at No. 2-seeded Bishop Montgomery of Torrance on Tuesday at 7 p.m., with a championship match spot on the line. Bishop Montgomery swept South Hills, 25-20, 25-21, 25-12, on Saturday.

CdM got there by coming out strong against St. Lucy’s (16-11) and not letting up, and the serving was indicative of the strong performance. CdM totaled eight aces against the school from Glendora, including four from Brombal, three from Lawson and one from senior Alyssa Joyce.

“At practice the last couple of days, we’ve just been nailing our serves and working on it,” said Lawson, who had three aces for the second consecutive playoff match. “It definitely paid off ... We were surprised that we came out so strong. We just opened, and once we got out there we were ready to play and did not give up. We usually go up and down, and tonight we just pounded them.

“It was awesome. No one let down at all, and that’s the difference. Everyone just wanted it, there was so much fire in everyone.”

The Sea Kings were up on St. Lucy’s just 12-11 in the first game until an emphatic kill from junior middle blocker Conley Kipp (nine kills and three solo blocks) helped turn the tide. It started an 8-0 run, to 20-11, that was capped on another one of Brombal’s aces.

Good to see for CdM Coach Bill Christiansen, who called the match the Sea Kings’ best of the season.

“I was happy that we started off real fast,” Christiansen said. “Our balance was really good between the offense and the defense. We didn’t have any sections [of the match] where we had three or four errors in a row.”

Junior opposite hitter Jenny Martin, who also had nine kills on some precise passes from sophomore setter Madie Smith (28 assists), said CdM just came out extremely prepared and focused.

“We had a lot of energy going to the match, and it carried our momentum through the match,” Martin said. “The energy let our defense and our offense just skyrocket.”

Senior Ashley Pries had a team-high 21 digs for the Sea Kings, who breezed through Game 2 before encountering some resistance in Game 3. But up 16-12, CdM won three points in a row — two on kills from sophomore Amanda Nickel and Martin — to create some more separation.

“Our underclassmen are very strong,” said Lawson, a senior captain. “Coming from last year, where we went to the [Division II-AA] finals and had really strong seniors, everyone kind of thought we weren’t going to be good this year. But even though we have a lot of underclassmen, we’re all really bonded.”

CdM was then able to finish off the Regents, who nearly upset eventual CIF champion Laguna Beach in last year’s Division II-AA playoffs before succumbing in five games.

“That’s what I kept thinking, that they almost upset Laguna Beach last year,” Christiansen said. “I was extremely wary of them. In the third game, we were hammering the ball and they were digging it. If they’d started that in the first game, it would have gone five games.”

But St. Lucy’s Coach Pam Crampton, although proud of her team, said she knew a similar task would be difficult Saturday against CdM. The Regents graduated eight seniors from a year ago.

Bishop Montgomery should present a tougher test on the road Tuesday. It’s a team that Corona del Mar hasn’t faced this year, although Christiansen said they could have faced each other at the Santa Barbara Tournament last month.

The Southern California fires forced the Sea Kings to withdraw from that tournament.

“It’s a hostile gym, and they’re ranked a notch above us,” Christiansen said. “But we’re going in there feeling that we’re the team to beat, and that we’ll take it to them.”

Senior Krysten McCaughey led St. Lucy’s with seven kills.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.