Corona del Mar to meet Loyola in CIF boys’ volleyball final for second straight year

In many ways, it’s fitting that the two high schools with the most CIF Southern Section boys’ volleyball finals appearances will play again for the title.

Corona del Mar and Los Angeles Loyola will meet in the Division 1 final for the second straight year.

The No. 3-seeded Sea Kings clinched their 15th trip to the championship match almost an hour before the No. 1 Cubs advanced to the finale for the 16th time in their history.

The reason why the Sea Kings made it first was because they played an hour before Loyola did on Wednesday, and they finished No. 2 Oak Park in a hurry. Seventy-three minutes are how long it took host CdM to sweep the Eagles 25-20, 25-20, 25-11 in the semifinals.

Loyola also moved on from the semifinals with a sweep, beating No. 4 Newport Harbor 25-23, 25-20, 25-18 at home.

While there won’t be a third Battle of the Bay section final in the top division between archrivals CdM and Newport Harbor, the Sea Kings are looking forward to facing another nemesis in Loyola. The Cubs outlasted CdM in five sets in last year’s championship.

Losing the finale in five sets has been a pattern for CdM the past two years. The Sea Kings are hoping their third trip in as many years is the charm.

The Sea Kings (30-3) and Loyola (27-1) play at Cerritos College on Saturday. The contest will mark the second between the two programs. The first one on April 26 went the distance, with Loyola winning 25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10 at home.

“It’s going to be a battle,” CdM coach Steve Conti said.

Conti would know. He has coached on this stage before, as he’s guiding CdM to the section final for the 13th time during his 22 years.

The Sea Kings are going back because they dominated the only team that has beaten Loyola this year. The Sea Kings became the first team to sweep Oak Park (36-4) in a best-of-five contest this year, denying the Eagles from reaching the finals for the third year in a row.

Oak Park, after qualifying for the Division 2 finals the past two years, was trying to get to the Division 1 championship for the first time in the program’s history. The Sea Kings’ balanced attack and size overwhelmed Oak Park at times.

Patrick Paragas, who totaled 40 assists, to go with four kills, five digs and one service ace, moved the ball around for CdM. He went to 6 feet 4 junior Brandon Browning (11 kills, one solo block, two block assists), 6-7 senior Clay Dickinson (10 kills), 6-6 senior Mitch Haly (seven kills), 6-7 senior Jake Meyer (six kills, five block assists) and 6-4 junior Kevin Kobrine (six kills, four block assists).

“We definitely found a little bit of our rhythm here tonight,” Conti said. “Even though we’ve been winning, we haven’t played to our potential, but I definitely [believe we] played a complete match.”

The Sea Kings jumped on Oak Park early.

Behind a kill by Meyer and Dickinson, a block by Haly, and an ace by Diego Perez, and a couple of violations by the Eagles, CdM went ahead 7-1. The start was reminiscent of the one in the quarterfinals against Laguna Beach last Saturday.

Unlike in the previous round, CdM saw Oak Park come back to make it close in Game 1.

The Eagles got within three twice, the last time at 22-19. Alex Parks had three kills late, and Grigory Manyak had a kill and a block to close the gap, but CdM sealed things. Meyer recorded a kill, and then he teamed up with Kobrine on a block, putting the Sea Kings at set point. Kobrine clinched it with a kill, his only one in the opening set.

In Game 1, Kobrine contributed to two of CdM’s three blocks, and he had one of the team’s five aces. Perez produced three of CdM’s aces, and for the match, he finished with 11 digs.

The Sea Kings’ jump serve wasn’t as strong in Game 2, as they committed three service errors. In a tightly contested set, it didn’t hinder CdM.

Game 2 was even 10 times, and no team led by more than two, until Oak Park struck the ball wide and long. The Sea Kings took a 21-18 lead after the errant shots, and they finished the Eagles.

Browning played at his best in the second set, coming up with four kills, a solo block and a block assist. The outside hitter’s shot out of the backrow gave CdM set point. Dickinson’s third kill in the set allowed the Sea Kings to claim Game 2 by the same score as in Game 1.

The Sea Kings went on to sweep their third opponent in the playoffs, the same thing they accomplished a year ago heading into the finale.

“We know what to expect now,” Browning said. “We’re ready.”

The Sea Kings are 7-7 in the section finals, compared to Loyola’s 12-3 mark.

The Cubs have also defeated CdM in five out of the last six meetings.

For Haly, he will be playing for a section championship for the second time in his final year at CdM. He helped the football team get to the Division 4 final.

“It’s been a good year,” Haly said. “I’m really just excited to get another opportunity after losing a pretty close one [in double overtime in football to Chatsworth Sierra Canyon in December].

“It’s nice to kind of get back [in volleyball] and get Loyola because [it] got us last year.”

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Twitter: @ByDCP