CdM clinches at least a share of the Pacific Coast League girls’ volleyball crown

Reporting from Irvine —  The Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team is on its way to another outright Pacific Coast League championship.

In dominant fashion, the Sea Kings clinched at least a share of the title with a 25-18, 25-10, 25-21 sweep of host Northwood on Tuesday, improving to 8-0 in league play.

The Sea Kings, who are 15-4 overall and ranked No. 8 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, have claimed the outright league crown the last 11 years. Before they travel to compete in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Friday, the Sea Kings can finish all alone atop the league for a 12th straight time with a win at Irvine on Thursday.

“We’ve got a really good senior class this year leadership-wise, and the culture has been really positive with everyone buying in to what we are doing,” said CdM coach Steve Astor, whose team is ahead of 6-2 Beckman in league. “When you have practices like we’ve been having and get seniors to set examples, then the other ones are going to follow and a lot of good things are going to happen.”

In a balanced attack, junior Kendall Kipp finished with eight kills and four service aces, while senior Ashley Humphreys garnered seven kills and four aces.

“I think our service [stood out] more than anything,” Astor said. “That’s one of our strengths this year and it’s going to have to be our main weapon, and not just getting nice float on the ball, but getting it to the right location.”

After a back-and-forth start in the first set, the Sea Kings got some separation on a 7-2 run to give them a 14-7 lead. CdM began to pull away after a 5-0 surge saw it go up 22-12, but the Timberwolves rallied to make it a six-point deficit.

CdM had command of the entire second set, jumping out to a 12-2 lead. The Sea Kings never let up and ultimately ran away with the set.

The third set saw the Sea Kings start off strong again, opening a 12-3 lead and eventually increasing it to 22-11. The Timberwolves (3-15, 2-6) gave one last push at the end of the set. A 10-0 surge by Northwood would have it down 22-21, forcing the Sea Kings to call a timeout and sub their veteran players back in.

It was a service error by Northwood that killed its momentum, as well as kills by senior Christina Davenport and Humphreys that ended the match and sealed another CdM league championship.

JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ is a contributor to Times Community News: Follow him on Twitter: @JGonzalezSports