CdM closes with zeal

CORONA DEL MAR — The Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team had to fend off pesky Laguna Beach to earn a 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23 nonleague win Monday night at CdM.

The Sea Kings, ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA, won the first two games with ease but let Game 3 slip away and allowed the Breakers, ranked No. 5 in CIF Division I-A, come within 2 points of forcing a fifth game.

Corona del Mar (11-3) had pulled away in the fourth game, going on a 8-2 run to lead, 13-6. But Laguna Beach (15-8) never gave into the Sea Kings’ onslaught of offense. The two squads went point for point until Laguna Beach started making a push and closed to within 20-16.

That push was halted by CdM senior middle blocker Conley Kipp, who smashed one of her team-leading 13 kills to put the Sea Kings up, 21-16.

That gap would be closed.

Laguna Beach went on a 7-3 run to pull to within 24-23 and put the pressure on. But CdM did not buckle.

Junior outside hitter Sidney Brombal solidified the win with a punishing kill that ended a hard-fought fourth game.

“It was a long match,” CdM Coach Darryl Gan said. “For [us] to come back at the end and fire it up and finish it was good. It was great to see them focus at the end.”

Focus was something the team struggled with early. Each time the Sea Kings developed an early lead, they let Laguna Beach back into the fray and had to fight to close them out.

In Games 1 and 2, CdM took early leads but slowly softened their attack and committed minor errors. Each time, the Breakers closed to within three and the Sea Kings had to have someone step up and make a big play to close them out.

Game 3 proved to be a momentum changer and CdM found itself in catch-up mode.

The heavy hitting of Laguna Beach standout Piper Obradovich, who kept landing huge kills down the line, put CdM on its heels. The hosts could not answer offensively and let Game 3 get away, 20-25.

“We need to be a little more consistent in the way we run our offense,” Gan said. “I think our [servers] let down a little bit which gave the other team some opportunities to get back into it. I think if we settle that down we will be pretty dangerous. We have a lot of tools and we are good team.”

Junior setter Maddie Smith is one of those dangerous players on this CdM team. She consistently distributed the ball to numerous hitters, accumulating 43 assists.

One of Smith’s main targets was unexpected standout, sophomore Hailey Senske. Senske got the start in place of senior outside hitter and captain Jenny Martin, who sprained an ankle in practice Friday. Senske had 10 big kills and contributed heavily on defense.

However, CdM’s best defender was outside hitter Amanda Nickel, who had eight solo blocks. Her presence at the net, along with Claire Ham, helped stop many offensive pushes by the Breakers. Nickel also had three aces.

But it was Sidney Brombal’s offensive and defensive performance that really kept Laguna Beach at bay. Brombal had a team-leading 17 digs and added 12 kills.

She ended the first game with a huge kill and came up big in the fourth game with a match-ending kill to conclude her very productive night.

“We are getting better,” Gan said. “We like to run things a certain way and the kids are catching on to that. As long as we see improvement, we are happy, and the girls keep improving.”