CdM boys’ volleyball sweeps Edison
HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Corona del Mar High boys’ volleyball team hasn’t practiced much since the start of the week. The campus lost power on Monday, cancelling the Sea Kings’ practice.
Coming off six matches at the Best of the West Tournament in Poway on Friday and Saturday, Coach Steve Conti drew up a short list of things he wanted his Sea Kings to work on. They had a nonleague home match to get ready for against Edison on Wednesday.
They scrambled on Tuesday to find a place to prepare. They found one off campus and it wasn’t much of a practice.
“We couldn’t get the nets set up properly,” Conti said. “It was the guys height on one side and the girls height on the other. We just didn’t want to do any six-man, because I felt like if we started hitting on that net, I think we would’ve been hitting into the net … on a real net. Psychologically, I don’t think that would’ve been good for us.”
Also, that match, which would’ve been the Sea Kings’ home opener, turned into another trip because of the power situation at CdM.
When the Sea Kings arrived at Edison, Conti dealt with another energy issue, involving his players’ lack thereof.
The Sea Kings still managed to sweep, 25-19, 25-19, 25-9, but Conti warned his players about taking things for granted.
He singled out one teenager, James Christian, who filmed the match for CdM.
“We’ve got a senior, James Christian, who started for us last year [and] who tore his ACL [during the football season and he’s] out for the whole year,” Conti said. “[He] would kill for this opportunity, to have the chance to play this game one more time.”
The Sea Kings will return to Edison on Friday for the Orange County Championships. Conti is hoping his team comes with a different attitude.
Conti said the team doesn’t have much time, just one day to straighten things out.
The tournament is one of the toughest with the likes of San Clemente and Huntington Beach, ranked No. 1 and No. 5, respectively, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, and it got tougher this year. In the past, teams played best-of-three matches. Now, Conti said the format is best-of-five.
“The [things] we’re not doing that we’re capable of doing, because it has nothing to do with how big or how talented you are, is we’re not communicating that well and we’re not playing with that much energy,” said Conti, who did see some positives.
CdM (4-4), ranked No. 10, blocked well and served tougher as the match went on.
The Sea Kings dominated the final set. They seemed to put everything together and jumped out to an 18-3 lead. Erik Ctvrtlik served well as did Brett Schisler during the stretch.
Edison (4-7) failed to do much in the third set. Coach Trent Jackson wasn’t too pleased. He had a lengthy talk with his players, who ran afterward.
“It was a real boring match,” Jackson said.
The opening set played out evenly until the halfway point. Outside hitter Joey Martino recorded a couple of his 13 kills and CdM closed out the first set on a 12-6 run.
The Chargers kept up with the Sea Kings late in the second set. Edison’s Andrew Mickle produced a kill to tie it at 19-19, but the host school wasn’t heard from again in the set.
Martino, who finished with four solo blocks and a block assist, stuffed a couple of Stephen Roach’s shots. The Sea Kings finished strong, with Matt Ctvrtlik (15 assists, six kills and three blocks) and Kevin Fults (six kills and two blocks) performing.
Twitter: @DCPenaloza