Advertisement

Brande: CdM grabs junior high titles

Share

The boys’ volleyball playoffs for the Coastal Athletic League were held last week at Harbor Day’s Blass Gymnasium under the outstanding direction of Harbor Day Athletic Director Mike Coleman. The seeding for the tournament is determined by seven weeks of league play among the seven local junior high school boys’ teams.

Corona del Mar stood as the champion in the seventh-grade division and also captured the eighth-grade title.

The quarterfinals were held Nov. 12 with Sowers (Huntington Beach) defeating Costa Mesa and Harbor Day upsetting Dwyer (Huntington Beach) in the seventh-grade division. In the eighth-grade quarterfinals, Sowers beat TeWinkle and Harbor Day outscored Dwyer to move to the semifinals.

Advertisement

Thursday’s semifinal matches featured a Corona del Mar victory over Harbor Day and Ensign’s win over Sowers in the seventh-grade tournament. Top seeded Ensign defeated Harbor Day and second-seeded Corona del Mar beat Sowers in the eighth-grade division.

Harbor Day’s seventh-grade team was coached by Pam Coleman and Kim Coleman. Standouts on the Harbor Day team were the all-around play of Matt Duma although he missed the semifinals with an injured finger, and Matt Strok, who competed at the middle blocking position.

Harbor Day’s eighth-grade team was coached by the legendary Mary Mix. They were led by multi-talented George Knapp, setter Drake Mossman, and libero Corbin Vaicek. While undersized, their serving and ball control kept them in the game.

The finals were outstanding. The level of play was the highest that I have seen at this tournament, which dates back to the early 1980’s. Both finals were “Mini Battle of the Bays” with CdM facing Ensign.

Coach Ashley Curtis directed the Ensign seventh-grade team, while Head Coach Dan Vrebalovich assisted by Steve Vrebalovich and David Look, coached the Corona team. After a one-sided first set (25-6), Ensign came back in the second game, but fell by a score of 25-20.

Coach Curtis kept 16 players on her team emphasizing the importance of more boys having the opportunity to learn this sport. She felt that the positive leadership of setter Sam Walton as well as tremendous team attitude exhibited by Zach Forbath were keys to their success. She also enjoyed the improvement of Ike Love, who helped with his blocking and hitting.

Coach Dan Vrebalovich managed a very talented group. The starting team of Jaden Glenn, Mica Look, Braden Conti, Shane Premer, Cade Overfelt and Justin Browning were supported by Josh Friedman, James Vrebalovich, Danny Hatch, John Bethel, Brandon Stoliar and Nato Dickinson. There are some very familiar volleyball surnames on that team.

The eighth-grade final was outstanding. It resembled a good high school junior varsity level match with lots of driven balls, big blocks and diving digs.

Corona del Mar, coached by Joe Sloate with assistants Augie Miller, Finn Jeffrey, Jake and Max Pearson, prevailed in a thrilling three-set match.

Ensign was well coached by Kari Rush, who had actually played for a couple of very talented Ensign teams in her junior high days.

With big hitting from Ensign’s Dayne Chalmers and Alex Kormeluk as well as the blocking of Will Harvey and setting from Sam Barela were major factors in their success. Backcourt play from Blake Ludes, Ryan Schroeder and Jack Higgs also helped Ensign tremendously. Kari also acknowledged the spirited play from Lance Bell in helping Ensign pull together.

Coach Joe Sloate’s CdM team had a number of outstanding players. With the outside attacking of Nick Alacano, Luke Chelf and Adam Flood, and the middle play from Ty Thabit and Matt Olson, CdM created pressure from many positions. Jack Stone and Mason Melcer handled the setting with backup Spencer Wardwell. Other talented Corona players included Max Dunk, Grayson Breland, libero Bryce Motal, Caden Strauss, and back court starter Connor Zylstra.

The future looks bright for the Battle of the Bays. With last year’s eighth-grade final featuring CdM and Ensign, that is a run of three years of deep and outstanding talent headed to Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor, which will make CdM Coach Steve Conti and the Sailors’ Rocky Ciarelli very happy.

CHARLIE BRANDE is a former head coach of Corona del Mar High, Newport Harbor and UC Irvine volleyball programs.

Advertisement