Boys’ Volleyball: CdM rules Back Bay again
The Battle of the Bay boys’ volleyball rivalry tends to have the feel of a CIF Southern Section playoff match.
But for the second straight year, the contest between Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor lacked that back and forth fervor.
One team, the host Sea Kings, pretty much controlled most of Friday night’s action and swept, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19, to own the Back Bay for the second time in as many years. With the Division 1 playoffs starting Tuesday, CdM (24-6) appears in postseason form.
It’s hard to say the same about Newport Harbor (12-13).
If the regular-season finale is a sign of how well Newport Harbor will fare in the first round, the Sailors are in trouble. They didn’t do so well against CdM, which on Friday afternoon, about five hours before the Battle of the Bay, received the No. 3 seed.
The Sailors will see another seeded team when they open the postseason at No. 4 Newbury Park (21-3). While Newport Harbor is happy to be back in the postseason, after it failed to make it last season for the first time since 1985, Coach Rocky Ciarelli wasn’t thrilled about having to travel 90 miles to play a seeded team in the first round.
“This is my 28th year,” Ciarelli said of coaching high school volleyball. “Nothing surprises me.”
Ciarelli, in his first season in charge of the Sailors, led Newport Harbor to a share of second place in the Sunset League. The Sailors split second with Los Alamitos, but they received the league’s No. 3 berth due to losing a tiebreaker to Los Alamitos, which beat Newport Harbor in three sets, compared to Newport Harbor defeating the Griffins in four sets.
As a result, the Sailors have a date with Newbury Park for the second time this season.
The two sides met in mid-March at the Best of the West tournament in San Diego, where Newbury Park swept the best-of-three match, 25-19, 25-16. The only teams to knock off Newbury Park are Huntington Beach and Loyola, the top two seeds in Division 1, and Oak Park, the No. 1 seed in Division 2.
The Sea Kings’ opener is a lot easier than the one Newport Harbor has next week.
For the fourth time in five years, CdM will face Trabuco Hills in the playoffs. Each time CdM has come out on top, in the Division 1 first round two years ago, in the Division 2 quarterfinals three years ago and in the Division 2 semifinals four years ago.
The Pacific Coast League champion Sea Kings earned the right to play host to Trabuco Hills again. In CdM’s final tune-up before the playoffs, Coach Steve Conti’s team took care of business.
Sam Kobrine led the way in first set, recording six of his 11 kills. Will Hunter contributed half of his eight kills in Game 1. Both Kobrine and Hunter blocked a shot in the first set, Kobrine turning away Newport Harbor’s Spencer Lawrence and Hunter stuffed Cole Pender.
“We outsized them,” said Hunter, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker. “We knew we had to stop their freshman, Cole Pender. We knew he was their No. 1 guy.”
The Sea Kings kept the outside hitter in check, allowing Pender to finish with eight kills. Ryan Moss, a 6-7 senior outside hitter bound for USC, helped against Pender, coming up with three block assists and five digs, to go along with nine kills.
Kevin Fults added eight kills and three blocks assists for CdM, while Augie Miller had five kills and two block assists. Miller, a middle blocker heading to Pepperdine, also delivered a couple of nice assists, but Matt Ctvrtlik handled most of the setter duties.
Ctvrtlik, who collected 37 assists, also dropped in a kill to clinch Game 2, and CdM was one set away from taking the Battle of the Bay for the fifth time in six years.
“There [have] been some years where, you know, it’s a really tight match and it gets a little bit [crazier] in here,” Conti said of the annual rivalry against the Sailors.
“We’ve had a pretty good season. I still think our best volleyball is in front of us.”