CdM survives in five

CORONA DEL MAR — Madie Smith may be listed as a 5-foot-8 setter, but neither the height nor the position was going to limit the Corona del Mar High junior Thursday night.

Smith was everywhere in the fifth game against rival University. There she was, making a kill. Two points later, she had a block, and followed it up with a service ace.

The effort helped the Sea Kings stand tall, after they outlasted the Trojans, 25-18, 25-27, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11, in the crucial Pacific Coast League first-place showdown.

If Corona del Mar (16-6, 6-1 in league) can win Thursday at home against Beckman (5-1 in league), the Sea Kings will repeat outright as league champions.

“Madie has played this game for so long that when she’s in the moment, she sees everything,” CdM Coach Darryl Gan said. “The game becomes real slow to her. That’s when you just watch her and you’re like, ‘Whoa!’ That’s her experience coming through.”

Smith finished with 44 assists, 20 digs and two solo blocks against the Trojans (20-8, 4-2). Junior outside hitter Sydney Brombal had 15 kills, 19 digs and four aces, while senior outside hitter Jenny Martin had 13 kills, eight digs and three aces.

Senior middle blocker Conley Kipp added 12 kills and six solo blocks. Three of those blocks came near the end of Game 1, as the Sea Kings tallied nine straight points to turn around an 18-16 deficit.

University, led by UCLA-bound senior Bojana Todorovic (a match-high 29 kills), battled back to win two straight games. But CdM steadied itself and came out to an 18-9 lead in Game 4, winning it going away.

The Sea Kings, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA coaches’ poll, trailed just once in the fifth game, at 1-0.

“We keep growing as a team,” said Smith, last year’s Pacific Coast League Player of the Year. “Even if we’re down by five, or anything like that, we still have smiles on our faces. We’re still energized. We keep each other together; even on the bench each player has a value on this team.”

Sophomore middle blocker Claire Ham had six kills against University, and junior opposite Amanda Nickel added four.

CdM has just two matches next week to close out the regular season, but both are big. Beckman handed the Sea Kings their only league loss earlier this season, although CdM was missing both Nickel and Martin.

“Even though we were down, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Beckman worked harder than we did,” Gan said. “We did give them opportunities, but they did not waste them. So yes, that’s a big match.”

The annual Battle of the Bay against rival Newport Harbor follows at CdM on Nov. 7. That match will also have a twist — Gan graduated from Harbor.