Sea Kings outlast HB Oilers
Corona del Mar High sophomore Brandon Browning said he watched from the stands in street clothes as the Sea Kings suffered four defeats the previous two seasons at the hands of three-time defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion Huntington Beach.
The 6-foot-4 outside hitter’s vantage point for a revision of that history was a little better Saturday night.
Browning pounded 16 kills, second only to senior teammate Sam Kobrine’s 21, to help the Sea Kings rally for a 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-7 triumph in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys’ volleyball quarterfinals. But it was Browning’s vista from the service line, from which he served eight straight points to open the decisive fifth game, that he may savor as sweetly as the CdM seniors.
CdM (26-5) advances to Wednesday’s semifinal against top-seeded Mira Costa at a site to be determined.
But first, the Sea Kings had to climb out of an 0-2 hole that brought to mind some struggles against a No. 4-seeded Oilers squad that had won 132 of its previous 133 matches heading into Saturday.
“These [Oilers] had lost one match in four years,” CdM Coach Steve Conti said. “And one thing we needed to do was to try to create a little doubt. It’s hard to do that when you are kind of playing from behind like we did most of Game 1 and Game 2. We kind of squeaked out a Game 3. And I think just kind of creating a little doubt [leading throughout in the fourth set] they probably felt a lot of pressure on them, in a sense that no one wanted to be a team that didn’t get back to the finals. They’ve had such a streak. Maybe a little pressure got to them.”
Browning, using a float serve that became a team-wide preference after some early jump serves missed, Conti said, created a bad pass that led to a point on the initial serve of the decisive set. A pair of tandem stuff blocks, first by senior middle blocker Will Hunter and senior setter Matt Ctvrtlik, then by Hunter and Kobrine, helped create a 4-0 cushion.
A net violation by the visitors (28-2) added a point, then Ctvrtlik put away an overpass, before scoring on a dump to push the lead to 7-0.
A Browning ace, his first of the match, capped the 8-0 run, from which the Oilers could not recover.
“It was kind of up to them what they did,” Browning said of Huntington Beach’s late implosion that helped the Sea Kings turn the tide. “As a team, we just wanted to focus on what we were doing. And I was just trying to do my job.”
Conti said improving the accuracy of its serves may have been the key for CdM, which extended its winning streak to nine matches.
“I think in the end, having our guys float serve to try to hit our target was really important,” said Conti, whose voice cracked with emotion addressing reporters after the win. “We weren’t serving poorly early, but our misses were at inopportune times late in both the first two games. We kept our guys down [limiting jump serves] to try to make [the Oilers] earn their points. Sometimes your jump serve is not working, which is why we practice more than one serve in practice. I think it was smart for us to go with the float serves as we went through the match.”
Conti also said the Sea Kings’ block became more efficient as the match went on.
Hunter, who had eight kills, had six block assists and one solo stuff, as well as one ace, to help keep CdM’s bid for its first section crown since 2011 in motion.
Junior middle blocker Mitch Haly stepped up his game late to finish with nine kills, three block assists and one stuff block, while Ctvrtlik, a four-year starter who claimed his first win over Huntington Beach, produced 53 assists, five block assists and four kills.
“I don’t think the seniors had beaten them,” Conti said, “though we’ve come close a couple times [including one five-game setback. The victory] is awesome.”
Kobrine had two kills in the fifth set, while Haley and Hunter added one apiece.
CdM trailed, 21-19, in the crucial third set, before a Kobrine kill and a miscommunication on a pass by the Oilers, knotted the score.
Ctvrtlik’s left-handed dump put the hosts up, 22-21, and Kobrine kills gave CdM the lead after deadlocks at 22 and 23. A net violation by the Oilers gave CdM the Game 3 win and the Sea Kings took it from there.
“I’m just super happy for our team,” Conti said. “It’s not that we weren’t playing hard [early], I think we were almost playing too hard. I tried to get us to settle down, because I think we got caught in all the hoopla and everything. And once we kind of settled down with our block, that was kind of huge.”
CdM also appeared to be the better-conditioned team.
“We work really, really hard in practice to train for moments like this, to make sure we can be just as strong, not just physically, but mentally,” Conti said. “I’m glad to see some of that hard work has kind of paid off for us.”
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
