Harbor, CdM one win away

Two years, and two thrilling wins over Santa Barbara High for the Corona del Mar boys’ volleyball team.

Last year it was the Sea Kings topping the Dons in the CIF Southern Section Division II title match. Two years ago, CdM somehow came back from a 14-10 fifth-game deficit to win a Division II semifinal match on the road.

The Sea Kings (26-7) will be back there again tonight at 7, when they tangle with Santa Barbara in another Division II semifinal at Santa Barbara High.

In a Division I semifinal, meanwhile, top-seeded Newport Harbor (30-3) will play host to Santa Margarita tonight at 7.

For the second-seeded Dons and the third-seeded Sea Kings, it’s their first meeting of the year. But CdM Coach Steve Conti knows what makes Santa Barbara, which won the Best of the West tournament and Dos Pueblos tournament, so dangerous.

“Their strength is they have great balance,” Conti said. “They’ve got a lot of guys who can put the ball away for them. They’re one of the better teams in any division of CIF.”

Santa Barbara is also an emotional team. But Conti said he hopes his team, led by players like USC-bound outside hitter Jeff Carlson and Stanford-bound middle blocker Gus Ellis, can gain some momentum after a tough four-game win over West Valley of Hemet in the quarterfinals.

“Our quarterfinal was tougher than [Santa Barbara’s],” Conti said. “I think we’ve had that in our favor. We’ve had to be in some tight situations. We’re hoping to maybe draw off that experience.”

Newport Harbor has had relatively few tight situations. The Sailors have won 20 straight matches, including Friday’s four-game win over San Clemente.

Newport Harbor, led by USC-bound outside hitter Tucker Peleuses, UC Santa Barbara-bound outside hitter Mark Liebermann and UCLA-bound setter Kyle Caldwell, has also not played Santa Margarita this season.

Unlike the Sea Kings, however, the Tars won their coin flip and will play their second straight match at Newport Harbor. Coach Dan Glenn said after Friday’s win over San Clemente that his team is fine with playing either home or away. He said he looks for a bigger block from his team.

“I think next round, we’re definitely have to block better,” he said Friday. “That’s something we can improve on, focus on in practice the next couple of days.”

The CdM-Santa Barbara winner will play either Valencia of Valencia or Dos Pueblos in the Division II title match Saturday at 5 p.m. at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Newport Harbor-Santa Margarita winner will play either Mira Costa or Loyola on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the same venue.

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