Girls’ Volleyball:

CORONA DEL MAR — It is, of course, too soon for those in and around the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball program to savor the confluence of events that seem to be working in the Sea Kings’ favor.

But after the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings dispatched South Torrance, 25-16, 25-23, 25-21, Tuesday in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs, it’s becoming more difficult to ignore the fact that fortune and fate may be two prongs in this team’s symbolic trident.

The win put CdM (28-5) into the title match against top-seeded and two-time defending division champion Redlands East Valley, which topped Bishop Montgomery, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 21-15, 15-12, at home Tuesday.

The final will be held Friday or Saturday, a decision yet to be made by section officials.

Tuesday’s win was the third straight sweep for the Pacific Coast League champions, who have handled all their postseason business thus far in their own gym.

CdM Co-Coach Jim Downey, well into his third decade on a high school sideline and with five section titles under his belt as the head man at nearby Calvary Chapel, said he does not recall a team ever playing all the way into the final without boarding a bus.

“I’ve never had that experience and I’ve [coached teams] in the playoffs several times,” Downey said.

CdM will finally venture out of town for the final at Cypress College.

When it does play, Downey said the Sea Kings expect to give the Wildcats a better battle than they did in last year.

Revenge, in fact, may be the third prong in the trident.

East Valley thumped CdM twice in the 2008 postseason, claiming the section crown with a 25-16, 25-20, 25-14 verdict, then earning an even more impressive 25-17, 25-15, 25-13 triumph in the Southern California Regional final.

“We played [East Valley] over the summer and we beat them two out of three games,” Downey said. “So I think the match will be much closer this year. That [summer] match was early, but we feel like we’ll be able to give them the competition this year that we didn’t last year.”

There is, however, much more to CdM’s success than serendipity. And the Sea Kings appear to be peaking at the right time.

“This is a team that rises to the occasion,” Downey said of CdM, which, he noted, played its best match of the playoffs against the Spartans (24-11). “Those guys [from South Torrance] played hard tonight, and we played hard too.”

And the Sea Kings had more weapons with which to play.

“What helps us is, we are a very balanced attack,” Downey said. “[The Spartans] had some great outside hitters on that team. But I think our attack was more balanced. When we’re in system, we have several people that can attack the ball. There’s not one person that [blockers] can key on.

“And then we had the ball control when we needed it.”

Morgan Boukather, a 6-foot-1 junior opposite, led the winners with 11 kills, while 5-11 senior middle blocker Amanda Nickel chipped in seven.

Junior outside hitter Hailey Senske had five kills, one more than both Claire Ham, a 6-2 junior middle, and senior outside hitter Sydney Brombal.

Senior All-CIF setter Madie Smith had 25 assists, four kills and a team-high 13 digs to pull it all together.

Junior libero Katelyn Baker had 10 digs, Brombal had nine and junior Megan Griffin had six.

CdM made just five service errors, none in the third set, and collected five aces.

“We served the best we’ve served in the last few matches,” Downey said.

CdM seized a 6-1 lead to open the match and did not trail until the visitors earned a 2-1 advantage in Game 3.

But the hosts reasserted themselves and eventually gained a lead of 12-11 that they did not relinquish.