CdM’s balloon pops

SAN DIEGO — After the longest game Corona del Mar’s Bill Christiansen had ever coached in, there he was smiling. Not with his team, but the opposition’s near the net after Game 3.

In his 27th year coaching volleyball, Christiansen was still having fun.

His CdM girls had just lost a chance to sweep Cathedral Catholic of San Diego on the road. Nothing stood in their way until that third game, a 38-36 defeat, where there were more ties than at a corporate boardroom meeting.

The road to the quarterfinals of the CIF State Division III Southern California Regional still looked clear with Christiansen’s loose approach. Just one more victory against the young Dons and CdM had another showdown with rival Laguna Beach.

But Christiansen’s demeanor didn’t rub off on the No. 6-seeded Sea Kings, as they played tight and the No. 3 Dons capitalized, coming from behind to win, 17-25, 19-25, 38-36, 25-21, 15-8 to advance out of Tuesday night’s opening round.

As CdM gathered itself before heading into the visiting locker room, Cathedral Catholic’s players ran through a fan-made tunnel to celebrate in their locker room.

When Christiansen came out after a 25-minute session with his Sea Kings (18-12), he found himself sitting next to Cathedral Catholic Coach Kelly Drobeck courtside. He still couldn’t believe what just happened against the Dons (16-6), the San Diego Section champs with eight sophomores, three freshmen, three juniors and one senior.

“She just out-coached me,” said Christiansen, whose team last year advanced to the regional semifinals. “They save the best for last. They’re a good team and they didn’t quit. They started having breaks go their way. They played a little better defense as each game went on, and the momentum swung when we lost the third game.

“I’m always disappointed when we lose. Volleyball is a very fickle [sport]. One point in the game, you look like you’re on top of the world and the next point you’re smacked down to the ground. We had lots of opportunities for match point [in the third game] and we just didn’t finish it off.”

The missed opportunities allowed Cathedral Catholic the chance to bounce back and eventually sneak into a quarterfinal date with No. 2 Laguna Beach (22-7), the team that has had CdM’s number in recent matches.

If you asked Drobeck, the same could be said whenever the Sea Kings have played the Dons.

“I know that we’ve had their number the majority of the times we played them,” said Drobeck, who in 10 years as coach has won nine San Diego Section titles.

The one title eluding her is a state championship. After the first games, the Dons came out with nothing to lose, or as Drobeck told her team, “we’re going to regret this if we lose in three [games] right here.”

Cathedral Catholic kept its season alive by battling in Game 3, which saw 11 ties after the scoreboard showed, 25-25. Junior Outside hitter Lexi Williamson blasted many of her match-high 33 kills in third game.

Another key contributor was sophomore outside hitter Kelly Reeves, who added 14 kills, but it was her 17 digs that proved to be pivotal.

Reeves dug up plenty of hammering shots coming from Corona del Mar senior outside hitter Kara Chatham (24 kills), as well as her teammates sophomore middle blocker Amanda Nickel (15 kills) and junior middle blocker Conley Kipp (13 kills).

“We were in a rebuilding year,” said Christiansen, whose team received a state berth despite losing in the Southern Section Division II-AA semifinals to Bishop Montgomery. “We were competitive with the very best teams. That’s why we got the invitation to the state tournament. We took [the Dons] to the fifth game. Games like that don’t happen.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.