Edison is tuning up

Serving wasn’t a problem Tuesday night for the Edison High boys’ volleyball team, as senior Ryan Smith and junior Danny McCarty combined for seven aces.

Passing wasn’t bad either, as 10 different Chargers recorded kills.

Edison is now ready for Friday night after topping intercity rival Marina, 25-17, 25-17, 25-12, in a Sunset League match at home Tuesday.

Esperanza (6-1 in league) suffered its first league loss Tuesday at Newport Harbor (5-2). Edison is also 5-2 in league, so the Chargers can create a possible three-way tie for first by beating Esperanza on Friday night.

After this week, there are just two league matches left.

“They match up really well with us,” Edison senior Torey Darin said of the Aztecs, who beat the Chargers in four games in their previous league meeting. “They have pretty much everything we have. We know what they do, so it’ll just be what Edison team comes out, the team that can serve and pass or the team that doesn’t?”

Those have been points of emphasis for Edison and it eased past the Vikings on Tuesday. Marina was in Game 1, with the score tied as late as 9 after an ace by Vikings senior Keegan Maag. But that was before Edison went on a 6-0 run, as McCarty got three aces of his own.

Darin, bound for Loyola University, finished with a match-high 10 kills. Smith and Ryan Capriccio had six each, McCarty five, and senior setter Jeff Newell added four.

The Chargers were able to play plenty of guys. Junior setter Yoshi Moriyama came off the bench for a couple of crowd-pleasing kills late, along with a couple of nice blocks.

“We decided to start trying to fix our problems with serving and passing,” Edison Coach Brian Boone said. “That’s what got us in trouble, especially against Esperanza at their place. But other than that, tonight looked pretty solid all the way around. It’s nice to be able to get everybody in the matches.”

Senior outside hitter Chad Hoppe led Marina with seven kills, and senior Brennan Lee had four. The Vikings are still searching for their first league win.

Edison controls its own destiny. Should the Chargers win out, they could clinch at least a share of the league title. They play at rival Fountain Valley on Tuesday, and close their season with another important home match against Newport Harbor on Thursday.

“We’re always worried about peaking too early, but I feel like if we get our serving and passing down then we can beat pretty much anybody,” Darin said. “When we serve well, we can beat every team we play.”