Sea Kings eye second CIF title in three years today

Sure, winning the CIF volleyball semifinals was pleasant.

And taking five games to do it? That added a nice dramatic touch.

But the road trip to Goleta, where the Corona del Mar high boys’ volleyball team defeated Dos Pueblos, 25-24, 21-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-11, was just a pit stop on the way to Cerritos College.

“The fact that we have a lot of experience, and we’re heavy with seniors and juniors, really showed our maturity, and that’s what gave us the ability to pull it in there,” said junior middle blocker Gus Ellis.

The top-seeded Sea Kings (32-2) will play No. 2-seeded Santa Barbara (24-2) in the CIF Division II finals today at noon.

Ellis has been to this point before, and he’s known victory and disappointment. Last year, the Sea Kings lost to Valencia in the CIF finals. In 2005, they were CIF Champions.

So Wednesday night, the excitement was already draining from Ellis’ body, even before he could give himself his post-game insulin shot.

When asked after the match how much time the Sea Kings would give themselves to enjoy the win, Ellis, who has diabetes, responded:

“It ended ten minutes ago.”

The Sea Kings will once again be leaning on Jeff Carlson, who had 15 kills against Dos Pueblos, as well as Blaine Nielson and Ellis, and setter Phil Bannan.

Carlson, who’s been an important factor in the Sea Kings’ success all season, bloomed Wednesday night.

“Jeff is just an incredible volleyball player,” Ellis said. “Out of everyone on the whole court, I think he has the most all-around skill. Jeff can hit. Jeff can pass. Jeff can set. Jeff can do anything.”

One thing CdM has to avoid is the unforced errors and side-outs which were a big factor in pushing Wednesday’s match to five games.

Corona del Mar defeated Santa Barbara, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12, for the Best of West Tournament title in San Diego March 10.

— Soraya Nadia McDonald